Bradford is the sponsor of two bills to provide tax relief to cannabis businesses and their owners, including Senate Bill 1281, which would eliminate the cultivation tax and reduce the cannabis excise tax from 15% to 5%. A group of licensed cannabis business owners rallied on the steps of the California capitol on Thursday to bring attention to the impact high cannabis taxes have on independent entrepreneurs. The demonstrators at Thursday’s rally are also seeking changes to the social equity provisions in California. Without meaningful tax reform NOW, California’s few remaining BIPOC cannabis operators and social equity businesses will not survive, and the communities and patients they serve will not be able to access affordable and safe cannabis. Under state law, social equity programs, which are presently governed by local jurisdictions, are not permitted to consider race or ethnicity as eligibility criteria.
A group of licensed cannabis business owners rallied on the steps of the California capitol on Thursday to bring attention to the impact high cannabis taxes have on independent entrepreneurs. The demonstration, which was held in response to the proposed state budget released by Governor Gavin Newsom last month, was organized by Supernova Women, an Oakland nonprofit that works to create opportunities for Black and Brown people in the cannabis industry.
The rally featured more than fifty cannabis business owners, patients, and policymakers who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) and gathered to call for several changes to the state’s cannabis...
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