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Bill would preserve current marijuana license cap; sponsors say pause prevents rapid footprint growth
Summary
Senate Bill 27 would extend a pause on issuing additional marijuana business licenses, keeping the current number of licensed locations; sponsor told the Appropriations Committee the bill preserves the current footprint and therefore delays additional license fee revenue that would otherwise come in if the moratorium expired.
Senate Bill 27, sponsored by Senator Ken Bogner, would maintain the current cap on marijuana business licenses rather than allowing additional licenses to be issued if a moratorium were to expire.
Bogner told the House Appropriations Committee that the bill puts a pause on expanding the number of licensed marijuana businesses and preserves the state’s current regulatory footprint. The fiscal note anticipates lost potential license-fee revenue that would have been collected if additional licenses were authorized; Bogner described SB 27 as holding the status quo.
Officials from the Department of Revenue’s Cannabis Control Division and the department’s tax policy staff attended as informational witnesses to address fiscal questions. Committee members asked about constitutional issues related to creating a moratorium on licensure. Department witnesses and Senator Bogner said the bill continues current policy; one committee member compared it to numeric limits that can apply to liquor licenses and similar regulatory limits.
No proponents or opponents were registered online during the committee hearing and no formal amendments were offered at the hearing. Senator Bogner closed the hearing and thanked the committee.
