Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
A measure that would ask Colorado voters to allow the state to keep revenue from marijuana taxes is making its way through the Legislature.
House Bill 1367 — sponsored by state budget writers — would ask voters this November to approve applying $40 million of marijuana revenue toward school construction projects, $12 million for youth programs and marijuana education and $6 million for general state spending, for a total of $58 million.
The bill also would lower the marijuana sales tax from 10 percent to 8 percent, after the bill was amended Thursday night. The current tax structure also includes a 15 percent excise tax.
There is broad support for the measure in the Legislature.
"We believe that when they passed Amendment 64 and Proposition AA, the voters of Colorado intended for marijuana taxes to go to fund state priorities, not go back into the pockets of marijuana consumers," said Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon, a sponsor of the bill. "The voters' intent was that this newly legal industry pay for itself."
Voters might be confused because they already approved the marijuana taxes by a vote in 2013. But the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights requires refunds when the state's total tax revenue exceeds estimates, including all revenue taken in by the state.
If voters reject the proposed ballot question, then $13.3 million would be refunded through a sales-tax reduction, $19.7 million would go back to cultivation facilities and $25 million would go back to taxpayers, resulting in refunds of anywhere from $15 to $90, depending on income status.
Lawmakers this week also took up a routine measure to continue medical marijuana regulations in Colorado. But controversy surrounded the bill, as Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, R-Colorado Springs, successfully attached an amendment to the bill that would prohibit felons from legally selling medical marijuana in instances where the felony is reclassified as a misdemeanor.
The lawmaker — who has found himself immersed in controversy throughout the year, including politicizing a recent tragedy in which a Longmont woman had her fetus cut from her womb — boasted Friday, calling it a "coup d'état," adding that he "out-maneuvered" sponsors of the legislation.
But marijuana advocates assailed the proposal, especially upset that 11 Democrats backed Klingenschmitt's amendment.
"If you want to know why minorities — the biggest victims of the war on cannabis — are so absent from the profits of (legalization), look no further than this amendment," said Shawn Coleman, a marijuana lobbyist.
"This amendment only serves to preserve confusion for regulators and bar entry to an economic opportunity for Coloradans."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The Durango Herald 04/24/2015 | Pot tax earns Capitol support
Author: Peter Marcus
Contact: The Durango Herald | feedback
Photo Credit: Steve Davis
Website: The Durango Herald | Durango's source for breaking news, weather, sports, local events and entertainment - frontpage
House Bill 1367 — sponsored by state budget writers — would ask voters this November to approve applying $40 million of marijuana revenue toward school construction projects, $12 million for youth programs and marijuana education and $6 million for general state spending, for a total of $58 million.
The bill also would lower the marijuana sales tax from 10 percent to 8 percent, after the bill was amended Thursday night. The current tax structure also includes a 15 percent excise tax.
There is broad support for the measure in the Legislature.
"We believe that when they passed Amendment 64 and Proposition AA, the voters of Colorado intended for marijuana taxes to go to fund state priorities, not go back into the pockets of marijuana consumers," said Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon, a sponsor of the bill. "The voters' intent was that this newly legal industry pay for itself."
Voters might be confused because they already approved the marijuana taxes by a vote in 2013. But the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights requires refunds when the state's total tax revenue exceeds estimates, including all revenue taken in by the state.
If voters reject the proposed ballot question, then $13.3 million would be refunded through a sales-tax reduction, $19.7 million would go back to cultivation facilities and $25 million would go back to taxpayers, resulting in refunds of anywhere from $15 to $90, depending on income status.
Lawmakers this week also took up a routine measure to continue medical marijuana regulations in Colorado. But controversy surrounded the bill, as Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, R-Colorado Springs, successfully attached an amendment to the bill that would prohibit felons from legally selling medical marijuana in instances where the felony is reclassified as a misdemeanor.
The lawmaker — who has found himself immersed in controversy throughout the year, including politicizing a recent tragedy in which a Longmont woman had her fetus cut from her womb — boasted Friday, calling it a "coup d'état," adding that he "out-maneuvered" sponsors of the legislation.
But marijuana advocates assailed the proposal, especially upset that 11 Democrats backed Klingenschmitt's amendment.
"If you want to know why minorities — the biggest victims of the war on cannabis — are so absent from the profits of (legalization), look no further than this amendment," said Shawn Coleman, a marijuana lobbyist.
"This amendment only serves to preserve confusion for regulators and bar entry to an economic opportunity for Coloradans."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The Durango Herald 04/24/2015 | Pot tax earns Capitol support
Author: Peter Marcus
Contact: The Durango Herald | feedback
Photo Credit: Steve Davis
Website: The Durango Herald | Durango's source for breaking news, weather, sports, local events and entertainment - frontpage
