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Office of Social Equity: 205 lottery picks, $45M in business assistance, nearly $100M in community reinvestment
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Summary
The Office of Social Equity told the Senate Finance Committee it has supported social‑equity licensees selected in Maryland’s lottery and is overseeing distribution rules for the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund. Audrey Johnson said 192 conditional social‑equity licenses were issued, 145 met capitalization milestones and 12 are operational; OSC is working with counties on CRRF plans and reporting.
The Office of Social Equity briefed the Senate Finance Committee on Maryland’s social‑equity efforts for cannabis, reporting that the state’s first comprehensive social equity licensing round selected 205 applicants from more than 1,700 applications and that regulators continue to shepherd conditional licensees toward operation.
"We received more than 1,700 applications, and 205 applicants were selected through the lottery across standard and micro business categories statewide," Audrey Johnson, executive director of the Office of Social Equity, told senators. She said 192 of those selected received conditional licenses, 145 have met an initial capitalization milestone and 12 are operational statewide (figures OSC described as current to the briefing).
OSC described several support programs designed to move licensees from authorization to sustainable businesses: application‑cost reimbursement, roughly $2.3 million in technical assistance grants, and phased rounds from the Cannabis Business Assistance Fund (CBAF). Johnson said the broader package of support for social‑equity entrants is about $45 million (rounded) in business assistance available to these applicants and that the Office remains engaged in business master classes, accelerators and convenings.
On community reinvestment, Johnson said 35% of cannabis sales tax revenue flows into the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund (CRRF) to support disproportionately impacted communities. OSC told the committee it has distributed nearly $100 million through CRRF and is working with counties to develop fund‑utilization plans, public meetings and reporting processes. OSC said allocations to counties are based on historic cannabis possession charges by jurisdiction (a multi‑year averaging approach with a disproportionate‑impact multiplier used in the statute).
Senators asked for transparency and tracking; OSC said it is developing quarterly public reporting to show county allocations and program outcomes and will include CRRF spending in a General Assembly report and future public dashboards. OSC also said it is coordinating with MCA and Commerce to help licensees navigate capital and zoning barriers and is meeting with counties and Commerce to improve coordination.
OSC acknowledged outstanding challenges — access to capital, local permitting delays, and market stigma — and said the agency is targeting workforce development, HBCU research partnerships and longer‑term sustainability measures.
The committee did not vote on policy changes during the briefing, but members requested OSC provide county‑level breakdowns of CRRF receipts and grant allocations and signaled interest in legislative follow‑up on reporting requirements and fund utilization rules.
