Proposal to rejigger marijuana tax revenue advances

The Montana Senate on Thursday advanced a proposal that seeks to reallocate tens of millions of dollars of recreational marijuana taxes the state collects annually.

Senate Bill 307, proposed by Sen. Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, would rejigger where roughly $63 million in marijuana taxes are directed, stripping allocations for wildlife habitat, state parks and youth suicide prevention programming and instead funneling those revenues toward law enforcement and substance use disorder treatment programs.

“If marijuana taxes are directed toward parks, trails and wildlife habitat, then who has to pick up the cost of the harms that come from the legalization and the use of marijuana?” McGillvray said during last month’s hearing before the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee. “Do we want to have property taxes [going toward] more treatment, more crisis centers [for] people who are suffering from psychosis or mental challenges from the use of marijuana?”

Last month, SB 307 proponents argued before committee members that the state needs more money to treat substance use disorder, educate Montanans on the effects of marijuana use, and ensure that marijuana growers and retailers are complying with the law. Proponents of the legislation argued it makes sense that such money comes from the cause of those needs.

SB 307 proponent Ben Cort said he appreciated that it takes a holistic approach to addressing issues that can crop up with substance use.

“It’s a stool with three legs: treatment, prevention, enforcement,” Cort said. “[SB 307] takes all of those equally seriously. … If you do all three of these, you’ll get as good as results as you can.”

Opponents of the bill argued that SB 307 goes against the wishes of Montana voters, who in 2020 passed an initiative legalizing adult-use marijuana and establishing a 20% sales tax on it. Language in that initiative specified that one-quarter of the taxes collected would support conservation and outdoor recreation initiatives.

“This bill will strip crucial funding from conservation efforts and will have immediate negative effects on public land and recreation opportunities in our state,” argued Micah Fields with the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. “As a state that draws substantial income from outdoor recreation and prides itself on abundant access to wild places and prime hunting and fishing, we deserve a method of funding that prioritizes and protects these resources.”

During floor debate on the measure Thursday, McGillvray addressed that critique of his bill, arguing that allocating revenue by citizen initiative is prohibited by Montana’s Constitution.

“I would submit to you that the deer, the elk, the moose, the geese are all doing pretty good in Montana,” he added. “FWP is flush with cash.” 

Democratic Sens. Sara Novak of Anaconda and Minority Leader Pat Flowers of Belgrade pushed back on that assessment. They argued that the money allocated under House Bill 701 from the 2021 session, the legislation to implement the voter-passed referendum that legalized recreational marijuana use and sales, is being put to good use and this shouldn’t be an either-or proposition, particularly given the state budget surplus.

“I don’t think we are in a position to unravel House Bill 701,” Novak said. “I think we can support both, and this bill doesn’t allow for that.”

The Senate’s vote fell largely upon party lines. All of the chamber’s Democrats opposed SB 307 and all but two of its Republican senators — Wylie Galt of Martinsdale and Russ Tempel of Chester — supported it.

SB 307 now continues on to the Senate Finance and Claims Committee. If it passes that committee, it will go up for at least one more vote in the Senate. If it passes that vote, it will continue on to the House.