§ 99-II — New York state cannabis revenue fund

§ 99-ii. New York state cannabis revenue fund. 1. There is hereby\nestablished in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance a special fund to be known as the\n"New York state cannabis revenue fund".\n 2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the department\nof taxation and finance, pursuant to the provisions of article twenty-C\nof the tax law and all other moneys credited or transferred thereto from\nany other fund or source pursuant to law. Nothing contained in this\nsection shall prevent the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests\nfor the purposes of the fund as defined in this section and depositing\nthem into the fund according to law.\n 2-a. Revenues deposited into this fund pursuant to section fifteen of\nthe cannabis law shall first be used to reimburse the state general fund\nfor any funds transferred to this fund from the state general fund for\nthe purposes of supporting expenditures authorized under paragraph (d)\nof subdivision three of this section.\n 3. The moneys in such fund shall be expended for the following\npurposes:\n (a) Reasonable costs incurred by the department of taxation and\nfinance for administering and collecting the taxes imposed by this part.\n (b) Reasonable costs incurred by the office of cannabis management and\nthe cannabis control board for implementing, administering, and\nenforcing the marihuana regulation and taxation act.\n (c) Actual and necessary costs incurred by the office of cannabis\nmanagement and the cannabis control board, and the urban development\ncorporation, related to the administration of incubators and other\nassistance to qualified social and economic equity applicants including\nthe administration, capitalization, and provision of low and zero\ninterest loans to such applicants pursuant to section sixteen-ee of the\nurban development corporation act. Such costs shall be paid out of\nrevenues received, including, but not limited to, from special license\nfees paid by registered organizations pursuant to section sixty-three of\nthe cannabis law.\n (d) subject to available appropriations and providing that no more\nthan fifty million dollars in funding, shall be made available, whether\ndirectly or indirectly for investment in a private debt or equity fund\nformed pursuant to subdivision thirty-two of section one thousand six\nhundred seventy-eight of the public authorities law or to cover capital\ncosts associated with establishing conditional adult-use cannabis retail\ndispensaries for operation by social equity licensees duly licensed\npursuant to article two of the cannabis law. Such capital costs shall\ninclude all costs, including closely related ancillary costs, related to\nthe leasing, planning, design, construction, reconstruction,\nrehabilitation, improvement, furnishing, and equipping of such adult-use\ncannabis retail dispensaries, to the extent such work has been\nundertaken or costs for such work incurred by: (i) the office of\ncannabis management and the cannabis control board, (ii) the dormitory\nauthority of the state of New York, or any subsidiary thereof, under\nagreement with the office of cannabis management and the cannabis\ncontrol board, or with the private debt or equity fund formed pursuant\nto subdivision thirty-two of section one thousand six hundred\nseventy-eight of the public authorities law, or (iii) the private debt\nor equity fund formed pursuant to subdivision thirty-two of section one\nthousand six hundred seventy-eight of the public authorities law. Any\nrepayment of the state's investment by the fund, as authorized in this\nparagraph shall be deposited in the New York state cannabis revenue\nfund.\n (e) Beginning with the two thousand twenty-two--two thousand\ntwenty-three fiscal year and continuing through the two thousand\nthirty-two--two thousand thirty-three fiscal year, the commissioner of\ntaxation and finance shall annually disburse the following sums for the\npurposes of data collection and reporting:\n (i) Reasonable costs incurred by the office of cannabis management to\ntrack and report data related to the licensing of cannabis businesses,\nincluding the geographic location, structure, and function of licensed\ncannabis businesses, and demographic data, including race, ethnicity,\nand gender, of applicants and license holders. The cannabis control\nboard shall publish reports on its findings annually and shall make the\nreports available to the public.\n (ii) Reasonable costs incurred by the department of criminal justice\nservices to track and report data related to any infractions,\nviolations, or criminal convictions that occur under any of the\nremaining cannabis statutes. The department of criminal justice services\nshall publish reports on its findings annually and shall make the\nreports available to the public.\n (iii) Reasonable costs incurred by agencies of the state, including\nthe state university of New York to research and evaluate the\nimplementation and effect of the cannabis law. No more than four percent\nof these monies may be used for expenses related to administrative costs\nof conducting such research, and to, if appropriate, make\nrecommendations to the legislature and governor regarding possible\namendments to the cannabis law. The recipients of these funds shall\npublish reports on their findings at a minimum of every two years and\nshall make the reports available to the public. The research funded\npursuant to this subdivision shall include but not necessarily be\nlimited to:\n (A) the impact on public health, including health costs associated\nwith cannabis use, as well as whether cannabis use is associated with an\nincrease or decrease in use of alcohol or other drugs;\n (B) the impact of treatment for cannabis use disorder and the\neffectiveness of different treatment programs;\n (C) public safety issues related to cannabis use, including, but not\nlimited to studying the effectiveness of the packaging and labeling\nrequirements and advertising and marketing restrictions contained in the\nact at preventing underage access to and use of cannabis and cannabis\nproducts, and studying the health-related effects among users of varying\npotency levels of cannabis and cannabis products;\n (D) cannabis use rates, maladaptive use rates for adults and youth,\nand diagnosis rates of cannabis-related substance use disorders;\n (E) cannabis market prices, illicit market prices, tax structures and\nrates, including an evaluation of how to best tax cannabis based on\npotency, and the structure and function of licensed cannabis businesses;\n (F) whether additional protections are needed to prevent unlawful\nmonopolies or anti-competitive behavior from occurring in the cannabis\nindustry and, if so, recommendations as to the most effective measures\nfor preventing such behavior;\n (G) the economic impacts in the private and public sectors, including\nbut not necessarily limited to, job creation, workplace safety,\nrevenues, taxes generated for state and local budgets, and criminal\njustice impacts, including, but not necessarily limited to, impacts on\nlaw enforcement and public resources, short and long term consequences\nof involvement in the criminal justice system, and state and local\ngovernment agency administrative costs and revenue;\n (H) the extent to which the regulatory agencies tasked with\nimplementing and enforcing the marihuana regulation and taxation act\nhave been able to implement the provisions of such act, consistent with\nits intent and purposes, and whether different agencies might be able to\ndo so more effectively; and\n (I) any environmental impacts and hazards related to cannabis\nproduction.\n (f) Reasonable costs incurred by the state police and the department\nof motor vehicles to implement the provisions of section sixty of the\nmarihuana regulation and taxation act, to expand and enhance the drug\nrecognition expert training program and technologies utilized in the\nprocess of maintaining road safety.\n (g) Reasonable costs, subject to available appropriations, incurred by\nthe office of cannabis management, the cannabis advisory board, or the\nurban development corporation to administer grants for qualified\ncommunity-based nonprofit organizations and approved local government\nentities for the purpose of reinvesting in communities\ndisproportionately affected by past federal and state drug policies, in\naccordance with the allowable uses of moneys deposited in the New York\nstate community grants reinvestment fund established by section\nninety-nine-kk of this article.\n (h) Reasonable costs, subject to available appropriations, incurred by\nthe division of criminal justice services and the office of court\nadministration to implement the expungement provisions of sections\nseventeen and twenty-four of the marihuana regulation and taxation act,\nas added by a chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one which added\nthis section.\n 4. After the dispersal of moneys pursuant to subdivision three of this\nsection, the remaining moneys in the fund deposited during the prior\nfiscal year shall be disbursed into the state lottery fund and two\nadditional sub-funds created within the cannabis revenue fund known as\nthe drug treatment and public education fund and the community grants\nreinvestment fund, as follows:\n (a) forty percent shall be deposited in the state lottery fund for\nadditional lottery grants to eligible school districts pursuant to\nsubparagraph four of paragraph b of subdivision four of section\nninety-two-c of this article, and shall be used to increase the total\namount of funding available for general support for public schools;\nprovided that notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the\namounts appropriated for such additional lottery grants shall be\nexcluded from the calculation of: (i) the allowable growth amount\ncomputed pursuant to paragraph dd of subdivision one of section\nthirty-six hundred two of the education law; (ii) the preliminary growth\namount computed pursuant to paragraph ff of subdivision one of section\nthirty-six hundred two of the education law; and (iii) the allocable\ngrowth amount computed pursuant to paragraph gg of subdivision one of\nsection thirty-six hundred two of the education law;\n (b) twenty percent shall be deposited in the drug treatment and public\neducation fund established by section ninety-nine-jj of this article;\nand\n (c) forty percent shall be deposited in the community grants\nreinvestment fund established by section ninety-nine-kk of this article.\n