Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cannabis Tax And Regulation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee approves cleanup bill that taxes 'net' marijuana sales and clarifies manufacturer licensing
Summary
Senate Finance and Claims passed Senate Bill 74, a technical set of changes to marijuana tax and licensing definitions that sponsors described as cleanup and alignment of statute with practice; committees heard fiscal implications including an estimated 1% reduction in tax collections tied to taxing discounted (net) retail prices.
The Senate Finance and Claims Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 74, legislation that updates definitions used in Montana’s marijuana tax and licensing system to tax actual retail (net) sales rather than list price and to clarify the meaning of manufacturer licensing for producers that operate multiple facilities.
Senator Josh Kasmier (SD 13), who presented the bill, said the measure was largely technical and intended to align statutory language with market and regulatory practice. "We're just redefining a couple of things," he told the committee, describing the bill as a cleanup measure that came out of stakeholder work during the interim.
Jennifer Hensley, representing a private testing laboratory involved in product control, described the bill as nonregulatory cleanup to align statute with implementation and laboratory accreditation practices. Fiscal witnesses told the committee the tax provision would likely lower reported collections by about 1% based on sales and discounting practices; the licensing portion of the fiscal note includes an estimated recurring cost in the low millions for administering licenses (approximately $2,225,000 per year in materials presented to the committee).
Officials from the Cannabis Control Division and the Department of Revenue appeared as informational witnesses; Cindy Backeberg, unit manager for business taxes, addressed the committee on tax impacts. Committee members asked for clarification of which fund (general fund or state special) would receive the revenue changes; witnesses said they could provide a breakdown but that marijuana revenue flows through a multi‑step allocation process before reaching the general fund in aggregate.
At executive action the committee passed SB 74. Senator Esp moved the measure and members recorded the voice vote; the motion carried and the bill was forwarded.
