{"id":76331,"date":"2024-06-14T04:37:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T12:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/14\/florida-marijuana-legalization-campaign-puts-focus-on-tax-revenue-boost-to-support-schools-and-roads\/"},"modified":"2024-06-14T12:45:49","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T20:45:49","slug":"florida-marijuana-legalization-campaign-puts-focus-on-tax-revenue-boost-to-support-schools-and-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/14\/florida-marijuana-legalization-campaign-puts-focus-on-tax-revenue-boost-to-support-schools-and-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Puts Focus On Tax Revenue Boost To Support Schools And Roads"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if we\u2019re able to do this in a way that offsets property taxes and their insurance situation\u2026that\u2019s what I want to see happen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the arguments supporters of the proposed state constitutional amendment legalizing the recreational adult use of cannabis in Florida tout is an increase in revenues to the state.<\/p>\n

The nonpartisan Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference\u00a0said\u00a0last July that, based on other states\u2019 experience, if Amendment 3 is passes this fall expected retail sales of non-medical marijuana in Florida would generate at least $195.6 million annually<\/a> in state and local taxes once the retail market is fully operational. It could go as high as $431 million.<\/p>\n

With that as the backdrop, Smart and Safe Florida, the advocacy group for Amendment 3, held a public discussion in Tampa on Thursday with sitting and former elected officials and other stakeholders about how to use that money for public benefit if the measure gets the 60 percent approval required to become law<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many needs across so many different categories, that to me anything that you can help may free up dollars for other things as well,\u201d said Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a new criminal courthouse in Hillsborough County. We need fire stations and roads and sidewalks, and clearly schools have tremendous obligations going forward,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have wastewater and stormwater projects in the hundreds of millions of dollars, so anything that can help relieve some of this is beneficial, and this is money that is slipping away to the black market. It\u2019s not that the money\u2019s not out there, it\u2019s just not being able captured legally by us and put to good use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

But former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who served six years as Democrat in the Florida House, said he thinks it unlikely the GOP-controlled Legislature would allocate those funds to local government.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, when I was there, I would have loved to have seen that happen, but my expectation is that it\u2019s probably not returning,\u201d he said\u2014adding that with collections from gas taxes being reduced in recent years (and with the expansion of electric vehicles), he personally would like to see it invested in agencies like the Florida Department of Transportation for mass transit and roadway projects.<\/p>\n

Sean Shaw served as a Democrat in the Florida House for one term before he ran as the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2018. He\u2019s now a candidate for the Hillsborough County Commission. Like several panelists, he was \u201cagnostic\u201d about where the revenues should go, \u201cother than not to the general fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would want it dedicated for this, this, this, or this, and not into the giant state budget where some things might happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

“States have generated over $20 billion in marijuana tax revenue since the first markets opened.” This is the boost we\u2019re talking about! Vote #YesOn3<\/a>
Read more at: https:\/\/t.co\/BqFXbYEFSI<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/JdzlM5exeH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Smart & Safe Florida (@SmartandSafeFl) June 11, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Darryl Jones, a member of the Leon County School Board, noted that Florida Lottery funds were supposed to be distributed to K-12 public schools when that issue came before the voters in 1986. \u201cThere were promises made about how that money would go to education. Promises that were not quite entirely fulfilled, so to have this conversation on the front end of the inevitability of this, I think, is important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lottery money does go to education, but perhaps not nearly as much as people anticipated.\u00a0According to the\u00a0Florida Lottery, approximately 25 cents of every dollar spent on a ticket goes into the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, managed by the Florida Department of Education. Each year that money is distributed between public schools, Florida colleges and universities, and the Bright Futures Scholarship.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody has forgotten the Lottery,\u201d said Shaw. \u201cNo one has forgotten the promise made and the promise that was not fulfilled. And we don\u2019t want that to happen again. I think that\u2019s really important for the Legislature to hear that on the front end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Hoffman, executive director of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, said, \u201cEverybody is going to have their hands out asking for that money.\u201d His focus was on how to get more of it back into \u201cthe regular taxpayer\u2019s pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if we\u2019re able to do this in a way that offsets property taxes and their insurance situation\u2014things that are affecting our average Floridian\u2014that\u2019s what I want to see happen,\u201d Hoffman added.<\/p>\n

\n

What a great conversation this morning about the incredible opportunity we have in Florida to generate up to $431 MILLION annually in new tax revenue when we pass Amendment 3! #YesOn3<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NjmtAiNi06<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Smart & Safe Florida (@SmartandSafeFl) June 13, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Other states<\/h4>\n

According to a December 2023 report from the\u00a0Tax Foundation, 21 states tax recreational cannabis<\/a>. The Phoenix looked at how three of them distribute the tax proceeds:<\/p>\n

In Arizona, which started its recreational cannabis program in 2021, one third of those revenues go to community college districts; 31 percent to public safety, including police and fire departments; 25 percent goes to the highway user revenue fund, and 10 percent to the justice reinvestment fund, which is dedicated to providing public health services, counseling, job training, and other social services for communities \u201cthat have been adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests and criminalization,\u201d according to the Arizona Mirror<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Oregon, 40 percent of cannabis taxes go to a state school fund; 20 percent goes to the Oregon Health Authority for mental health treatment or for alcohol and drug abuse prevention, early intervention, and treatment; 15 percent goes to the state police; 10 percent to cities; 10 percent to counties; and 5 percent back to the Oregon Health Authority for a separate program offering alcohol and drug abuse prevention, early intervention, and treatment services.<\/p>\n

And in\u00a0Montana, after $6 million is distributed annually to an agency dealing with ending addiction through recovery and treatment programs, 20 percent of adult-use and medical marijuana taxes goes to the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to be used solely for wildlife habitat; 4 percent to the state park account; 4 percent for trails and recreational facilities; 4 percent to nongame wildlife; 3 percent or $200,000 (whichever is less) to veterans and surviving spouses; $150,000 to the board of crime control to fund crisis intervention team training; $300,000 to the Department of Justice for grant funding for purchasing and training drug detection canines and canine handlers; and the rest to the general fund.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Florida Phoenix.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

DeSantis Claims Florida Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure Will Let People \u2018Bring 20 Joints To An Elementary School\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The post Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Puts Focus On Tax Revenue Boost To Support Schools And Roads<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Puts Focus On Tax Revenue Boost To Support Schools And Roads<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd if we\u2019re able to do this in a way that offsets property taxes and their insurance situation\u2026that\u2019s what I want to see happen.\u201d By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix One of the arguments supporters of the proposed state constitutional amendment legalizing the recreational adult use of cannabis in Florida toutContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76331"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76332,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76331\/revisions\/76332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}