On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom released a revision of his 2019-20 budget proposal and it includes additional funds for education, enforcement and equity programs in the cannabis industry. While the Governor makes significant investments in these areas, the actual amounts will depend on the actual cannabis tax receipts for the final two quarters of 2018-19.
Specifically, the budget includes:
Education
- $12 million to the Department of Public Health for cannabis surveillance and education activities.
- $80.5 million to the Department of Education to subsidize child care for school-aged children of income-eligible families to keep these children occupied and engaged in a safe environment, thus discouraging potential use of cannabis.
- $21.5 million to the Department of Health Care Services for competitive grants to develop and implement new youth programs in the areas of education, prevention and treatment of substance use disorders along with preventing harm from substance use.
- $5.3 million to California Natural Resources Agency to support youth community access grants. These grants will fund programs to support youth access to natural or cultural resources, with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities. This includes but is not limited to community education and recreational amenities to support youth substance use prevention and early intervention efforts.
Enforcement
- $26.0 million to the Board of State and Community Corrections for a competitive grant program for local governments that have not banned cannabis cultivation or retail activities that will prioritize various public health and safety programs, including, but not limited to, local partnerships focused on prevention and intervention programs for youth and to support collaborative enforcement efforts aimed at combating illegal cannabis cultivation and sales.
Environment
Clean-up, remediation, and enforcement of environmental impacts created by illegal
cannabis cultivation—20 percent ($39.8 million):
- $23.9 million to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, of which $13.8 million will support clean-up, remediation, and restoration of damage in watersheds affected by illegal cannabis cultivation and $10.1 million to support enforcement activities aimed at preventing further environmental degradation of public lands.
- $15.9 million to the Department of Parks and Recreation, of which $7.1 million will be used to survey the impacts and identify unknown areas of cannabis cultivation to assist with prioritizing resources for effective enforcement, $5.6 million for remediation and restoration of illegal cultivation activities on state park land, and $3.2 million to make roads and trails accessible for peace officer patrol and program assessment and development.
Equity
- $15 million Cannabis Tax Fund to provide grants to local governments to assist in the creation and administration of equity programs, and to support equitable access to the regulated market for individuals through financial and technical assistance. The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development will administer the grant program on behalf of the Bureau of Cannabis Control.
The Governor, Legislature and stakeholders will spend the next month negotiating the final details to decide what makes it in the final budget that Newsom must approve by June 30. Stay tuned for future updates on the 2019-20 budget.
If you have any questions regarding the budget process or the proposals included in the Governor’s May Revision, contact us at info@thecannabisfile.com to discuss.