Bill Text: HI SCR170 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Concurrent Resolution 170 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Business, Economic Development, And Tourism To Conduct A Study On The Projected Revenue That Would Be Generated For The State From The Legalization Of Recreational Marijuana If It Were Taxed At A Rate Equal To The Existing General Excise Tax Rate.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-16 - Referred to EET. [SCR170 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SCR170-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	170
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to conduct a study on the PROJECTED revenue that Would be generated for the State from the legalization of recreational marijuana if it were taxed at a rate equal to the existing general excise tax rate.

WHEREAS, thirty-seven states, including Hawai�i, have enacted medical use of cannabis laws exempting from criminal sanctions the medical use of cannabis; and

WHEREAS, chapter 329D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was enacted to establish authorized medical cannabis dispensaries to provide patients with medicine that is regulated and tested; and

WHEREAS, some states have legalized or decriminalized marijuana, replacing incarceration or criminal charges for possession of small amounts of marijuana with civil fines, confiscation, drug education, or drug treatment, or have made various marijuana offenses the lowest priority for law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, the legalization of marijuana for personal or recreational use is a natural, logical, and reasonable outgrowth of the current science of marijuana and attitudes toward marijuana; and

WHEREAS, in 2012, voters in Colorado voted to amend the state's constitution to legalize and regulate the production, possession, and distribution of marijuana for persons age twenty-one and older, which generated state tax revenues of approximately $18,900,000 during the first half of 2014 and is expected to increase as sales of retail marijuana increase; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to conduct a study on the projected revenue that would be generated for the State from the legalization of recreational marijuana if it were taxed at a rate equal to the existing general excise tax rate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study is requested to include a five-year total projection of the potential revenue to be generated for the State from the legalization of recreational marijuana if it were taxed at a rate equal to the existing general excise tax rate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to consult with any public or private entity to complete the study; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations from the study, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.