Dedicated Marijuana Account. The Dedicated Marijuana Account (Marijuana Account) is an appropriated account in the custody of the state treasurer. All moneys received by the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) from marijuana-related activities must be deposited in the Marijuana Account. These moneys include marijuana excise taxes collected on sales of marijuana and marijuana products, license fees, penalties, and forfeitures from marijuana producers, processors, researchers, and retailers. Moneys from the account are distributed to agencies, local governments, and to the Basic Health Plan Trust Account. At the end of each fiscal year (FY), unappropriated amounts in the Marijuana Account are transferred into the state general fund.
Cannabis Appropriations. According to LCB's 2021 Annual Report, total cannabis income, which includes excise tax, license fees, and penalties, was $473.9 million in FY20 and $559.5 million in FY21. The current structure and amounts of cannabis appropriations are as follows:
The Marijuana Account is renamed to the Dedicated Cannabis Account (Cannabis Account).
Cannabis Appropriations. Modified, New Appropriations. The Legislature must appropriate 19 percent of all money in the Cannabis Account quarterly or as follows:
Any amounts remaining after the distributions above must be distributed as follows:
Any amounts remaining from the 19 percent, after the distributions above, must be deposited in the state general fund.
The Legislature must then annually appropriate all other amounts in the Cannabis Account not otherwise expended above, as follows:
Any amounts not appropriated above must be transferred from the Cannabis Account into the Community Reinvestment Account (Reinvestment Account) and appropriated to Commerce to establish a Cannabis Equity Grant Program, which must be distributed in collaboration with "by and for community organizations" as defined by Commerce and the Office of Equity.
Lapsed Appropriations. Specific FY appropriations that have lapsed are removed.
Community Reinvestment Account. The Reinvestment Account is created in the state treasury. Expenditures from the account may be used for:
PRO: We have to change the structure that has been in place since November 2012 to provide needed investments in community. Cannabis revenues have found their way into the general fund and transparency is lacking. Investments in community and local governments are necessary. Snohomish County struggles with being able to provide enough support to the homeless community and address the opioid crisis. We support the bill but are hopeful for additional county funding. More transparency and accountability make this more of a participatory budget matter, which we support.