2023 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.
2-a. Revenues deposited into this fund pursuant to section fifteen  of
the cannabis law shall first be used to reimburse the state general fund
for  any  funds transferred to this fund from the state general fund for
the purposes of supporting expenditures authorized under  paragraph  (d)
of subdivision three of this section.
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) subject to available appropriations and  providing  that  no  more
than  fifty million dollars in funding, shall be made available, whether
directly or indirectly for investment in a private debt or  equity  fund
formed  pursuant  to  subdivision thirty-two of section one thousand six
hundred seventy-eight of the public authorities law or to cover  capital
costs associated with establishing conditional adult-use cannabis retail
dispensaries  for  operation  by  social  equity licensees duly licensed
pursuant to article two of the cannabis law. Such  capital  costs  shall
include all costs, including closely related ancillary costs, related to
the    leasing,    planning,   design,   construction,   reconstruction,
rehabilitation, improvement, furnishing, and equipping of such adult-use
cannabis  retail  dispensaries,  to  the  extent  such  work  has   been
undertaken  or  costs  for  such  work  incurred  by:  (i) the office of
cannabis management and the cannabis control board, (ii)  the  dormitory
authority  of  the  state  of New York, or any subsidiary thereof, under
agreement with the  office  of  cannabis  management  and  the  cannabis
control  board,  or with the private debt or equity fund formed pursuant
to  subdivision  thirty-two  of  section  one   thousand   six   hundred
seventy-eight  of  the public authorities law, or (iii) the private debt
or equity fund formed pursuant to subdivision thirty-two of section  one
thousand  six  hundred  seventy-eight of the public authorities law. Any
repayment of the state's investment by the fund, as authorized  in  this
paragraph  shall  be  deposited  in  the New York state cannabis revenue
fund.
(e)  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.
(f) 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.
(g) 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.
(h) 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.