Huge news! The Senate has just passed An Act Relative of Social Equity in Cannabis. This bill is a *game-changer* for racial equity in the cannabis industry.
Fewer than 7% of cannabis licenses in MA are held by social equity businesses. Here's how the bill will change that:
-It establishes a Social Equity Trust Fund to make grants and loans to equity applicants. We're putting our dollars where our values are as a state and making sure talented equity entrepreneurs have the resources & capital they need to get a foot in the door.
-It makes improvements to the Host Community Agreement process. High entry costs are one of the biggest barriers to opening a cannabis business, and these reforms will help lower them while bringing transparency to the licensing process.
-It directs the Cannabis Control Commission to establish rules & regulations for municipalities to promote full participation in the industry by previously harmed communities, and
-It incentivizes equity at the local level by granting municipalities additional funding from the state excise tax for every social equity business in their jurisdiction.
In 2017, MA made a first-in-the-nation commitment to equity in our adult-use cannabis law. Today, we're taking further steps to make that commitment a reality. We're acknowledging we have more to do to right the wrongs of the past, and we're creating new wealth-building opportunities so we can tackle our state's gaping racial wealth divide.
Thank you Senate President Karen E. Spilka Senator Michael Rodrigues Nick Collins Senator Pat Jehlen Senator Adam Gomez Julian Cyr State Senator Diana DiZoglio & State Senator Susan Moran for your partnership in making this happen. And thanks to unstoppable advocates Equitable Opportunities NOW Black Economic Council of Massachusetts and former Commissioner Shaleen Title who have kept equity in the spotlight every step of the way.
Original source can be found here.
