N.Y. State Finance Law § 99-ii: New York state cannabis revenue fund

§ 99-ii. New York state cannabis revenue fund. 1. There is hereby

established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the

commissioner of taxation and finance a special fund to be known as the

"New York state cannabis revenue fund".

2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the department

of taxation and finance, pursuant to the provisions of article twenty-C

of the tax law and all other moneys credited or transferred thereto from

any other fund or source pursuant to law. Nothing contained in this

section shall prevent the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests

for the purposes of the fund as defined in this section and depositing

them into the fund according to law.

2-a. Revenues deposited into this fund pursuant to section fifteen of

the cannabis law shall first be used to reimburse the state general fund

for any funds transferred to this fund from the state general fund for

the purposes of supporting expenditures authorized under paragraph (d)

of subdivision three of this section.

3. The moneys in such fund shall be expended for the following

purposes:

(a) Reasonable costs incurred by the department of taxation and

finance for administering and collecting the taxes imposed by this part.

(b) Reasonable costs incurred by the office of cannabis management and

the cannabis control board for implementing, administering, and

enforcing the marihuana regulation and taxation act.

(c) Actual and necessary costs incurred by the office of cannabis

management and the cannabis control board, and the urban development

corporation, related to the administration of incubators and other

assistance to qualified social and economic equity applicants including

the administration, capitalization, and provision of low and zero

interest loans to such applicants pursuant to section sixteen-ee of the

urban development corporation act. Such costs shall be paid out of

revenues received, including, but not limited to, from special license

fees paid by registered organizations pursuant to section sixty-three of

the cannabis law.

(d) subject to available appropriations and providing that no more

than fifty million dollars in funding, shall be made available, whether

directly or indirectly for investment in a private debt or equity fund

formed pursuant to subdivision thirty-two of section one thousand six

hundred seventy-eight of the public authorities law or to cover capital

costs associated with establishing conditional adult-use cannabis retail

dispensaries for operation by social equity licensees duly licensed

pursuant to article two of the cannabis law. Such capital costs shall

include all costs, including closely related ancillary costs, related to

the leasing, planning, design, construction, reconstruction,

rehabilitation, improvement, furnishing, and equipping of such adult-use

cannabis retail dispensaries, to the extent such work has been

undertaken or costs for such work incurred by: (i) the office of

cannabis management and the cannabis control board, (ii) the dormitory

authority of the state of New York, or any subsidiary thereof, under

agreement with the office of cannabis management and the cannabis

control board, or with the private debt or equity fund formed pursuant

to subdivision thirty-two of section one thousand six hundred

seventy-eight of the public authorities law, or (iii) the private debt

or equity fund formed pursuant to subdivision thirty-two of section one

thousand six hundred seventy-eight of the public authorities law. Any

repayment of the state's investment by the fund, as authorized in this

paragraph shall be deposited in the New York state cannabis revenue

fund.

(e) Beginning with the two thousand twenty-two--two thousand

twenty-three fiscal year and continuing through the two thousand

thirty-two--two thousand thirty-three fiscal year, the commissioner of

taxation and finance shall annually disburse the following sums for the

purposes of data collection and reporting:

(i) Reasonable costs incurred by the office of cannabis management to

track and report data related to the licensing of cannabis businesses,

including the geographic location, structure, and function of licensed

cannabis businesses, and demographic data, including race, ethnicity,

and gender, of applicants and license holders. The cannabis control

board shall publish reports on its findings annually and shall make the

reports available to the public.

(ii) Reasonable costs incurred by the department of criminal justice

services to track and report data related to any infractions,

violations, or criminal convictions that occur under any of the

remaining cannabis statutes. The department of criminal justice services

shall publish reports on its findings annually and shall make the

reports available to the public.

(iii) Reasonable costs incurred by agencies of the state, including

the state university of New York to research and evaluate the

implementation and effect of the cannabis law. No more than four percent

of these monies may be used for expenses related to administrative costs

of conducting such research, and to, if appropriate, make

recommendations to the legislature and governor regarding possible

amendments to the cannabis law. The recipients of these funds shall

publish reports on their findings at a minimum of every two years and

shall make the reports available to the public. The research funded

pursuant to this subdivision shall include but not necessarily be

limited to:

(A) the impact on public health, including health costs associated

with cannabis use, as well as whether cannabis use is associated with an

increase or decrease in use of alcohol or other drugs;

(B) the impact of treatment for cannabis use disorder and the

effectiveness of different treatment programs;

(C) public safety issues related to cannabis use, including, but not

limited to studying the effectiveness of the packaging and labeling

requirements and advertising and marketing restrictions contained in the

act at preventing underage access to and use of cannabis and cannabis

products, and studying the health-related effects among users of varying

potency levels of cannabis and cannabis products;

(D) cannabis use rates, maladaptive use rates for adults and youth,

and diagnosis rates of cannabis-related substance use disorders;

(E) cannabis market prices, illicit market prices, tax structures and

rates, including an evaluation of how to best tax cannabis based on

potency, and the structure and function of licensed cannabis businesses;

(F) whether additional protections are needed to prevent unlawful

monopolies or anti-competitive behavior from occurring in the cannabis

industry and, if so, recommendations as to the most effective measures

for preventing such behavior;

(G) the economic impacts in the private and public sectors, including

but not necessarily limited to, job creation, workplace safety,

revenues, taxes generated for state and local budgets, and criminal

justice impacts, including, but not necessarily limited to, impacts on

law enforcement and public resources, short and long term consequences

of involvement in the criminal justice system, and state and local

government agency administrative costs and revenue;

(H) the extent to which the regulatory agencies tasked with

implementing and enforcing the marihuana regulation and taxation act

have been able to implement the provisions of such act, consistent with

its intent and purposes, and whether different agencies might be able to

do so more effectively; and

(I) any environmental impacts and hazards related to cannabis

production.

(f) Reasonable costs incurred by the state police and the department

of motor vehicles to implement the provisions of section sixty of the

marihuana regulation and taxation act, to expand and enhance the drug

recognition expert training program and technologies utilized in the

process of maintaining road safety.

(g) Reasonable costs, subject to available appropriations, incurred by

the office of cannabis management, the cannabis advisory board, or the

urban development corporation to administer grants for qualified

community-based nonprofit organizations and approved local government

entities for the purpose of reinvesting in communities

disproportionately affected by past federal and state drug policies, in

accordance with the allowable uses of moneys deposited in the New York

state community grants reinvestment fund established by section

ninety-nine-kk of this article.

(h) Reasonable costs, subject to available appropriations, incurred by

the division of criminal justice services and the office of court

administration to implement the expungement provisions of sections

seventeen and twenty-four of the marihuana regulation and taxation act,

as added by a chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one which added

this section.

4. After the dispersal of moneys pursuant to subdivision three of this

section, the remaining moneys in the fund deposited during the prior

fiscal year shall be disbursed into the state lottery fund and two

additional sub-funds created within the cannabis revenue fund known as

the drug treatment and public education fund and the community grants

reinvestment fund, as follows:

(a) forty percent shall be deposited in the state lottery fund for

additional lottery grants to eligible school districts pursuant to

subparagraph four of paragraph b of subdivision four of section

ninety-two-c of this article, and shall be used to increase the total

amount of funding available for general support for public schools;

provided that notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the

amounts appropriated for such additional lottery grants shall be

excluded from the calculation of: (i) the allowable growth amount

computed pursuant to paragraph dd of subdivision one of section

thirty-six hundred two of the education law; (ii) the preliminary growth

amount computed pursuant to paragraph ff of subdivision one of section

thirty-six hundred two of the education law; and (iii) the allocable

growth amount computed pursuant to paragraph gg of subdivision one of

section thirty-six hundred two of the education law;

(b) twenty percent shall be deposited in the drug treatment and public

education fund established by section ninety-nine-jj of this article;

and

(c) forty percent shall be deposited in the community grants

reinvestment fund established by section ninety-nine-kk of this article.