Ask any cannabis business owner why California’s nascent legal weed market has struggled to gain a foothold and you’ll get the same answer: The taxes are too damn high. After years of listening to that complaint, California state lawmakers look like they’re about to do something about it.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and at least a half dozen lawmakers are now consolidating six different legislative proposals to alter the states’ tax rate on pot products. Their goal is to reach a deal by the time the state budget is passed in mid-June, so the tax changes could go into effect this summer.
That level of interest from state leaders represents a remarkable shift from the last few years. Previous proposals to lower cannabis taxes — from a small, bipartisan group of lawmakers — were met with resistance over potential revenue loss and went nowhere.
Taxes , do have consequences.
