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Senator Chittenden’s amendment would lower outdoor cannabis cultivation fees; committee hears modest fiscal hit and CCB perspective
Summary
Senator Thomas Chittenden introduced an amendment to S278 to reduce outdoor cultivator fees based on a Cannabis Control Board report; sponsors estimated a roughly $100,000–$120,000 general fund impact, members discussed delaying the effective date and sending the proposal to Finance and Appropriations for fiscal review.
Senator Thomas Chittenden introduced an amendment to S278 that would reduce licensing fees for outdoor cannabis cultivators, citing a Cannabis Control Board (CCB) report that recommended widening the fee gap between indoor and outdoor producers.
Chittenden said outdoor growers in Vermont face a short season and lower yields and that fees charged to outdoor growers appeared “disproportionate” to their likely yields. He told the committee the amendment’s fee changes “would cost the general fund about $100,000 to $120,000.” He said the amendment does not identify a backfill source for that revenue loss and that he would bring the proposal to Senate Finance and Senate Appropriations if the committee supported it.
James Pepper, chair of the Cannabis Control Board, advised the committee that cultivators had urged the board to widen the fee gap between indoor and outdoor operations. Pepper noted the operational difference in yields: "You're lucky to get one full harvest outdoors," he said, while indoor cultivators can achieve multiple harvests per year. Pepper also cautioned that current CCB fees do not fully cover the board’s operating expenses.
Committee members discussed possible approaches to protect the budget year, including pushing the amendment’s effective date out one year so the change would not affect the FY27 revenue figures currently being used in budget planning. Fiscal staff and senators described preliminary estimates that varied with assumptions: a mixed-tier scenario was described as roughly $170,000, while an outdoor-only calculation was put in the $100,000–$120,000 range; one speaker said six cultivators had been excluded from one count.
The committee indicated informal support for Chittenden to carry the amendment to the fiscal committees for formal fiscal analysis. No formal committee vote was taken during the meeting.
What happens next: Chittenden plans to present the amendment to Senate Finance and Senate Appropriations for detailed fiscal review; committee members will provide individual sponsorship names if needed.
