STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3151 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 23, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. COONEY, BAILEY, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, PARKER, RAMOS, SALAZAR, SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations AN ACT to amend the cannabis law and the state finance law, in relation to enacting the "cannabis adult-use transition act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "cannabis adult-use transition act". 3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. Chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, 4 known as the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, legalized and regu- 5 lated cannabis for adult-use; expanded and improved the medical cannabis 6 program and the hemp program; established the Cannabis Control Board and 7 the Office of Cannabis Management, and codified historical social and 8 economic equity policies. Chapter 18 of the laws of 2022 created the 9 conditional adult-use cultivator and processor licenses to jump start 10 New York's adult-use cannabis market with small New York farmers. 11 The legislature recognizes that due to a variety of circumstances 12 beyond the control of New York's cannabis licensees and applicants, 13 there have been delays and unforeseen challenges with the implementation 14 of various components of the state's cannabis markets. Conditional 15 cultivators cannot afford to process their cannabis or sell their 16 finished products; conditional processors are struggling with limited 17 retail outlets; conditional adult-use retail dispensary licensees and 18 applicants do not have access to capital, locations, or the resources 19 they need to become operational; and the state's medical registered 20 organizations and patients are facing a diminishing medical cannabis 21 market. As a result, the state's cannabis industries are losing value 22 and jobs, patients are being left behind, and the illicit market is 23 growing. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03184-01-5
S. 3151 2 1 § 3. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 14 of the cannabis law are 2 amended to read as follows: 3 2. The state cannabis advisory board shall consist of [thirteen] 4 seventeen voting appointed members, along with a representative from the 5 department of environmental conservation, the department of agriculture 6 and markets, the office of children and family services, the department 7 of labor, the department of health, the division of housing and communi- 8 ty renewal, the office of addiction services and supports, and the 9 department of education, serving as non-voting ex-officio members. The 10 governor shall have [seven] eleven appointments, the temporary president 11 of the senate and the speaker of the assembly shall each have three 12 appointments to the board. The members shall be appointed to each serve 13 three year terms and in the event of a vacancy, the vacancy shall be 14 filled in the manner of the original appointment for the remainder of 15 the term. The appointed members and representatives shall receive no 16 compensation for their services but shall be allowed their actual and 17 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as board 18 members. 19 3. Advisory board members shall have statewide geographic represen- 20 tation that is balanced and diverse in its composition. Appointed 21 members shall have an expertise in public and behavioral health, 22 substance use disorder treatment, effective rehabilitative treatment for 23 adults and juveniles, homelessness and housing, economic development, 24 environmental conservation, job training and placement, criminal 25 justice, and drug policy. Further, the advisory board shall include 26 residents, one retailer, one certified patient, one service disabled 27 veteran, and one supply tier licensee from communities most impacted by 28 cannabis prohibition, people with prior drug convictions, the formerly 29 incarcerated, and representatives from the farming industry, cannabis 30 industry, and organizations serving communities impacted by past federal 31 and state drug policies. 32 § 4. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 99-ii of the state 33 finance law, as added by chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, is amended to 34 read as follows: 35 (c) Actual and necessary costs incurred by the office of cannabis 36 management and the cannabis control board, and the urban development 37 corporation, related to the administration of incubators and other 38 assistance to qualified social and economic equity applicants including 39 the administration, capitalization, and provision of low and zero inter- 40 est loans to such applicants [pursuant to], including the conditional 41 adult-use retail dispensary licensees. The office of cannabis management 42 shall administer these resources in accordance with the social equity 43 and economic plan mandated pursuant to article four of the cannabis law 44 and in accordance with section sixteen-ee of the urban development 45 corporation act. Such costs shall be paid out of revenues received, 46 including, but not limited to, from special one-time fees paid by regis- 47 tered organizations pursuant to section sixty-three of the cannabis law. 48 § 5. Section 39 of the cannabis law is amended to read as follows: 49 § 39. Registered organizations and adult-use cannabis. The board shall 50 [have the authority to] grant [some or all of the] registered organiza- 51 tions [registered with the department of health and] currently regis- 52 tered and in good standing with the office, the ability to obtain 53 adult-use cannabis licenses pursuant to article four of this chapter and 54 subject to any [fees, rules or conditions] regulation prescribed by the 55 board [in regulation].
S. 3151 3 1 § 6. Subdivision 1-a of section 63 of the cannabis law is amended to 2 read as follows: 3 1-a. The [board shall also have the authority to assess a registered 4 organization with a] one-time special licensing fee for a registered 5 organization adult-use cultivator processor, distributor retail dispen- 6 sary [license. Such fee shall be assessed at an amount to adequately] 7 licensed pursuant to section sixty-eight-a of this article, shall be 8 twenty million dollars, an amount to be used exclusively to fund social 9 and economic equity and incubator assistance pursuant to this article 10 and paragraph (c) of subdivision three of section ninety-nine-ii of the 11 state finance law. Five million dollars of such fee shall be payable 12 upon licensure, and one million dollars thereafter within thirty days of 13 each twenty million dollars in revenue generated by such licensee until 14 paid in full, or such obligation expires on December thirty-first, two 15 thousand thirty-two, whichever occurs first. At least fifty percent of 16 the total fees collected shall be administered by the office as grants 17 or zero or low interest loans to the conditional adult-use retail 18 dispensary licensees. Conditional adult-use retail dispensary licensees 19 who accept zero or low interest loans shall be allowed to prepay such 20 loans without penalty. Provided, however, that the board shall not allow 21 registered organizations to dispense adult-use cannabis from more than 22 three of their medical cannabis dispensing locations. [The timing and 23 manner in which registered organizations may be granted such authority 24 shall be determined by the board in regulation.] An eligible registered 25 organization shall be authorized as a registered organization adult-use 26 cultivator processor distributor retail dispensary pursuant to section 27 sixty-eight-a of this article upon approval of an application to the 28 office that must be available to such registered organizations no later 29 than August first, two thousand twenty-five and remain available there- 30 after. The office must approve or deny such application within thirty 31 days of its submission or it shall be deemed approved. A registered 32 organization adult-use cultivator processor distributor retail dispen- 33 sary licensee shall be authorized to cultivate, process, and distribute 34 in the adult-use cannabis market, provided however, that each licensee's 35 first co-located dispensary shall not offer adult-use cannabis for 36 retail sale until or after December twenty-ninth, two thousand twenty- 37 five; the second co-located dispensary shall not offer adult-use canna- 38 bis for retail sale until or after January first, two thousand twenty- 39 six; and the third co-located dispensary shall not offer adult-use 40 cannabis for retail sale until or after April first, two thousand twen- 41 ty-six. These licensees must submit a plan to the office demonstrating 42 their commitment to diversifying the co-located dispensary shelf space 43 for adult-use with cannabis products from adult-use cultivators and 44 processors licensed pursuant to sections sixty-eight, sixty-eight-b, 45 sixty-eight-c, sixty-nine, sixty-nine-a, seventy, and seventy-three of 46 this article in accordance with any regulations promulgated by the 47 board. 48 § 7. Subdivision 6 of section 72 of the cannabis law is amended to 49 read as follows: 50 6. No cannabis retail licensee shall locate a storefront within five 51 hundred feet of a school grounds as such term is defined in the educa- 52 tion law or within two hundred feet of a house of worship. The board 53 and/or office shall not establish additional setback requirements. 54 § 8. The cannabis law is amended by adding a new section 85-a to read 55 as follows:
S. 3151 4 1 § 85-a. Provisions governing conditional adult-use retail dispensary 2 licenses. 1. The office shall approve, deny, or request additional 3 information in regards to a conditional adult-use retail dispensary 4 licensee's submission for location approvals within thirty days of 5 receipt or the location request shall be automatically approved so long 6 as it complies with the setback requirements of this chapter. 7 2. The office and dormitory authority shall make the list of addresses 8 for any executed lease agreements entered into and potentially available 9 to eligible conditional adult-use retail dispensary licensees publicly 10 available on their websites, and upon request. Such list shall be 11 updated each week to maximize the transparency for retail dispensary 12 licensees securing store locations and shall not include or block any 13 locations without an executed lease. 14 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately.