John SchroyerA tax hike on marijuana products requested by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was not included in a state budget plan released this week, possibly saving state cannabis companies from having to raise prices at dispensaries.
Republican leaders at the state capitol insisted this week they would avoid raising taxes whenever possible, including on the newly established recreational cannabis trade, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.
“There are no tax increases in this budget,” Rep. Brian Stewart, the chairman of the House Finance Committee, told the Journal. “We are not raising taxes on sports betting, marijuana or tobacco products.”
Stewart was responding to a specific budget request from DeWine that called for raising cannabis tax rates from 10% to 20% to help pay for “local jail improvements, law enforcement, poison control, assistance in having old cannabis-related convictions expunged, and addiction services.”
Instead, Ohio lawmakers made clear this week they are not DeWine’s to command and released a far different fiscal agenda than the state’s chief executive requested, the Journal reported. DeWine still has line-item veto power, so changes may still be ahead.
Lawmakers have until July to approve a new budget plan.
DeWine’s request appears to be part of a small but significant national trend of states relying increasingly on marijuana taxes to fund state coffers, NORML noted in a blog post on Thursday. California, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey also have either pending recreational cannabis tax hikes or legislative proposals to do so, the marijuana activist organization pointed out.
