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Office of Cannabis Management supports omnibus changes including social equity and CAN grant funding
Summary
Interim Director Eric Taubel and other witnesses told the committee the omnibus includes key Office of Cannabis Management provisions to support testing, social equity licensure, and community reinvestment grants (CAN Renew and CAN Grow). Committee members asked about timeline to market and grant oversight.
Interim Director Eric Taubel of the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management testified in favor of provisions in the commerce omnibus related to cannabis licensing, social equity criteria and grant programs, telling the Senate committee the language will help timely market launch and support social-equity applicants.
"This will help support a timely market launch that will prioritize the health and safety of the market," Taubel said of the proposal to change the testing-facility licensing process and other measures carried in Senate File 2216. He said clarifying language around social-equity criteria would allow broader eligibility by including persons who had a state adjudication or juvenile delinquency determination for a cannabis offense.
Taubel described two grant programs included in the omnibus: CAN Renew, a community-reinvestment grant aimed at communities harmed by over-enforcement during cannabis prohibition and designed to fund programming such as job training or youth programming; and CAN Grow, a small revolving-loan program to help prospective cultivators obtain technical and agricultural skills. Taubel said the office had received 165 applications for a $1 million initial CAN Renew allocation in the first biennium and is reviewing those applications. The office additionally seeks carry-forward authority to fully deploy appropriated funds and requested operating support to cover employee compensation, IT, rent and other expenses.
Committee members asked about timing for the cannabis market launch and whether tribal compacts would affect the sequencing of retail availability. Taubel said the office has Administrative Law Judge approval for adult-use rules and expects rule publication steps soon. He estimated the first sales could occur in 2026 but emphasized that much of the work to begin sales rests with qualified applicants moving from preliminary approval to licensed operations.
Senators also asked about oversight for CAN Renew grants. Taubel described a grant administration structure that includes a 100-page grant manual, oversight tools including on-site reconciliation of expenditures and an annual report to the legislature that will show grant outcomes. He emphasized the office’s effort to build accountability into the program.
Outlook: The cannabis provisions in the omnibus — testing facility licensing changes, expanded social-equity language, and the CAN Renew/CAN Grow grants — are likely to remain a negotiation point, particularly around funding, oversight and timelines to market launch.
