NY State Fin L § 99-II (2021)
2021 New York Laws STF - State Finance Article 6 - Funds of the State 99-II - New York State Cannabis Revenue Fund.

§  99-ii.  New  York  state  cannabis revenue fund. 1. There is hereby established in the joint  custody  of  the  state  comptroller  and  the commissioner  of  taxation and finance a special fund to be known as the "New York state cannabis revenue fund".   2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the  department of  taxation and finance, pursuant to the provisions of article twenty-C of the tax law and all other moneys credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to  law.  Nothing  contained  in  this section shall prevent the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for  the  purposes of the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into the fund according to law.   3. The moneys in  such  fund  shall  be  expended  for  the  following purposes:  (a)  Reasonable  costs  incurred  by  the  department  of taxation and finance for administering and collecting the taxes imposed by this part.  (b) Reasonable costs incurred by the office of cannabis management and the  cannabis  control  board  for  implementing,   administering,   and enforcing the marihuana regulation and taxation act.  (c)  Actual  and  necessary  costs  incurred by the office of cannabis management and the cannabis control board,  and  the  urban  development corporation,  related  to  the  administration  of  incubators and other assistance to qualified social and economic equity applicants  including the  administration,  capitalization,  and  provision  of  low  and zero interest loans to such applicants pursuant to section sixteen-ee of  the urban  development  corporation  act.  Such  costs  shall be paid out of revenues received, including, but not limited to, from special  one-time fees paid by registered organizations pursuant to section sixty-three of the cannabis law.  (d)   Beginning   with   the  two  thousand  twenty-two--two  thousand twenty-three  fiscal  year  and  continuing  through  the  two  thousand thirty-two--two  thousand  thirty-three fiscal year, the commissioner of taxation and finance shall annually disburse the following sums for  the purposes of data collection and reporting:  (i)  Reasonable costs incurred by the office of cannabis management to track and report data related to the licensing of  cannabis  businesses, including  the  geographic location, structure, and function of licensed cannabis businesses, and demographic data,  including  race,  ethnicity, and  gender,  of  applicants  and  license holders. The cannabis control board shall publish reports on its findings annually and shall make  the reports available to the public.  (ii)  Reasonable  costs incurred by the department of criminal justice services  to  track  and  report  data  related  to   any   infractions, violations,  or  criminal  convictions  that  occur  under  any  of  the remaining cannabis statutes. The department of criminal justice services shall publish reports on  its  findings  annually  and  shall  make  the reports available to the public.  (iii)  Reasonable  costs  incurred by agencies of the state, including the  state  university  of  New  York  to  research  and  evaluate   the implementation and effect of the cannabis law. No more than four percent of these monies may be used for expenses related to administrative costs of   conducting   such   research,   and   to,   if   appropriate,  make recommendations to  the  legislature  and  governor  regarding  possible amendments  to  the  cannabis  law.  The recipients of these funds shall publish reports on their findings at a minimum of every  two  years  and shall  make  the  reports  available  to the public. The research funded pursuant to this  subdivision  shall  include  but  not  necessarily  be limited to:  (A)  the  impact  on  public health, including health costs associated with cannabis use, as well as whether cannabis use is associated with an increase or decrease in use of alcohol or other drugs;  (B)  the  impact  of  treatment  for  cannabis  use  disorder  and the effectiveness of different treatment programs;  (C) public safety issues related to cannabis use, including,  but  not limited  to  studying  the  effectiveness  of the packaging and labeling requirements and advertising and marketing restrictions contained in the act at preventing underage access to and use of  cannabis  and  cannabis products, and studying the health-related effects among users of varying potency levels of cannabis and cannabis products;  (D)  cannabis  use  rates, maladaptive use rates for adults and youth, and diagnosis rates of cannabis-related substance use disorders;  (E) cannabis market prices, illicit market prices, tax structures  and rates,  including  an  evaluation  of  how to best tax cannabis based on potency, and the structure and function of licensed cannabis businesses;  (F) whether additional protections  are  needed  to  prevent  unlawful monopolies  or  anti-competitive behavior from occurring in the cannabis industry and, if so, recommendations as to the most  effective  measures for preventing such behavior;  (G)  the economic impacts in the private and public sectors, including but  not  necessarily  limited  to,  job  creation,  workplace   safety, revenues,  taxes  generated  for  state  and local budgets, and criminal justice impacts, including, but not necessarily limited to,  impacts  on law  enforcement  and public resources, short and long term consequences of involvement in the criminal  justice  system,  and  state  and  local government agency administrative costs and revenue;  (H)   the   extent  to  which  the  regulatory  agencies  tasked  with implementing and enforcing the marihuana  regulation  and  taxation  act have  been able to implement the provisions of such act, consistent with its intent and purposes, and whether different agencies might be able to do so more effectively; and  (I)  any  environmental  impacts  and  hazards  related  to   cannabis production.  (e)  Reasonable  costs incurred by the state police and the department of motor vehicles to implement the provisions of section  sixty  of  the marihuana  regulation  and  taxation act, to expand and enhance the drug recognition expert training program and  technologies  utilized  in  the process of maintaining road safety.  (f) Reasonable costs, subject to available appropriations, incurred by the  office  of cannabis management, the cannabis advisory board, or the urban  development  corporation  to  administer  grants  for   qualified community-based  nonprofit  organizations  and approved local government entities   for   the   purpose    of    reinvesting    in    communities disproportionately  affected by past federal and state drug policies, in accordance with the allowable uses of moneys deposited in the  New  York state   community   grants  reinvestment  fund  established  by  section ninety-nine-kk of this article.  (g) Reasonable costs, subject to available appropriations, incurred by the division of criminal  justice  services  and  the  office  of  court administration  to  implement  the  expungement  provisions  of sections seventeen and twenty-four of the marihuana regulation and taxation  act, as added by a chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one which added this section.   4. After the dispersal of moneys pursuant to subdivision three of this section,  the  remaining  moneys  in the fund deposited during the prior fiscal year shall be disbursed into  the  state  lottery  fund  and  two additional  sub-funds  created within the cannabis revenue fund known as  the drug treatment and public education fund and  the  community  grants reinvestment fund, as follows:  (a)  forty  percent  shall  be deposited in the state lottery fund for additional lottery grants  to  eligible  school  districts  pursuant  to subparagraph  four  of  paragraph  b  of  subdivision  four  of  section ninety-two-c of this article, and shall be used to  increase  the  total amount  of  funding  available  for  general support for public schools; provided that notwithstanding any inconsistent  provision  of  law,  the amounts  appropriated  for  such  additional  lottery  grants  shall  be excluded from the  calculation  of:  (i)  the  allowable  growth  amount computed  pursuant  to  paragraph  dd  of  subdivision  one  of  section thirty-six hundred two of the education law; (ii) the preliminary growth amount computed pursuant to paragraph ff of subdivision one  of  section thirty-six  hundred  two  of  the education law; and (iii) the allocable growth amount computed pursuant to paragraph gg of  subdivision  one  of section thirty-six hundred two of the education law;  (b) twenty percent shall be deposited in the drug treatment and public education  fund  established  by section ninety-nine-jj of this article; and  (c)  forty  percent  shall  be  deposited  in  the  community   grants reinvestment fund established by section ninety-nine-kk of this article.