eNews: Action Alert – February 14, 2022
Monday, February 14, 2022 - 05:32pm
Tell your State Senators to support local taxation authority of retail marijuana before 11:00 a.m. 
tomorrow
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SB313 (Ebbin) allows for the early sale of retail marijuana products through existing medical dispensaries and allows for certain companies to offer marijuana products for sale to persons 21 years of age or older beginning January 1, 2023.
Before Today: At VML’s urging, the bill was amended in committee to included authority for any local government to levy a 3 percent local option tax on retail marijuana sales. This was good.
Today on the Senate Floor: Local authority to levy a 3 percent optional tax on retail marijuana sales was stripped from SB313. This is really, really, bad for localities.
Let your Senator know you care about local taxation authority on marijuana products and ask that local tax authority be included in any bill to allow retail sales of marijuana. This is not a land use bill.
Local taxation authority is critical now
If local tax authority is not included in SB313 and, as a result, is not allowed on early retail sales it will jeopardize local taxation authority once the full retail marijuana market is established in 2024.
Time is running out!
Tomorrow is the last day the Senate can consider Senate bills; this means your state senator needs to hear from you before the Senate gavels in tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
It’s important to note that the House of Delegates is not advancing its own legislation on Marijuana. This means the Senate bills are the only chance we will have to ensure local tax authority is protected.
Demand local authority to levy a 3 percent local option tax!
Tell the Senators:
- SB313 should include the same local taxation authority that was already in the legislation that passed in 2020 and is included in Senator Ebbin’s SB391.
- If SB313 as amended today becomes law, then retail marijuana will be exempt from local taxation when early retail sales begin in January 2023.
Resources to contact State Senators:
VML Staff Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
