David Burr demonstrates removing leaves on marijuana plants to allow more light for growth at Essence Vegas’ 54,000-square-foot marijuana cultivation facility on July 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller | Getty Images)
The Montana Senate on Thursday advanced a measure to change what programs receive more than $60 million in funding from recreational marijuana tax revenue.
Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, is carrying Senate Bill 307 to shift marijuana tax revenue away from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks programs, and bolster marijuana prevention and enforcement operations.
McGillvray framed the bill as a “simple” policy choice, and asked legislators whether they care more about children and those impacted by marijuana, or wildlife habitat.
“I would submit to you that the deer, the elk, the ducks, the geese are all doing pretty good in Montana,” McGillvray said, adding that FWP has “buckets” of money they could spend.
“I’m asking (us) to prioritize the babies, the moms, the teenagers, the children, the adults that are addicted to this and need a way out,” he said.
But opponents said that the funding was allocated for FWP programs for a reason, and that if the Legislature wants to address prevention efforts, they should tackle that separately.
Sen. Sara Novak, D-Anaconda, served on the Business and Labor Committee during the 2021 session, when recreational marijuana was legalized with support from conservation groups counting on some of the revenue.
“We worked very hard on a big piece of legislation that put all the guiderails around the legalization of marijuana, and it included the allocation of revenue sources,” Novak said. “I do wholeheartedly think we need to take a hard look at prevention, education, treatment, the crime that goes along with all of that and the whole trickle effect, I just don’t think that this bill is the way to go about doing that.”
SB 307 had a lengthy hearing before the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee, where many drug prevention specialists and law enforcement representatives spoke in favor of the bill, but were outnumbered by more than 20 opponents representing conservation groups.
FWP director Christy Clark also testified in opposition, citing several programs that would be “virtually eliminated” without the funding, including a wildlife tracking system for birds and bats and funding for endangered and threatened species. She also told the committee the state park funding has allowed FWP to catch up on a “major backlog” of maintenance programs, including 55 separate projects since 2021.
McGillvray’s bill was amended to remove several provisions including funding a marijuana prevention account and suicide prevention grant program, and creating a marijuana accountability council. It also added back in funding for veterans and the board of crime control that the bill originally stripped out.
Now, the bill will allocate 26% of revenue to the Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment Fund, 4% to a new marijuana law enforcement account, small portions to veterans and the board of crime control, and the remainder to the general fund.
By comparison, the bill would more than double the dollars going to the HEART fund, which originally allocated the first $6 million of annual revenue from marijuana, currently an estimated $60 million.
Senators in favor of the bill spoke about the problems seen with higher potency THC products and the need to prioritize treatment programs and enforcement.
Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, said that he had smoked marijuana for two years in the 1970s and subsequently had health issues he attributed to the drug use, so he understood the detrimental effects, and cautioned against use. But ultimately, he said, this isn’t a bill about marijuana, it’s a bill about money.
“I’d like to call it a wise use of THC money,” he said. “This is a wise allocation of money. It’s creative. It’s innovative. Four years, five years from now, if people say ‘Yakawich, you did a poor job with that bill, and we need to fix it,’ well that’s what we do as legislators.”
In a similar vein but on the opposite side, Sen. Emma Kerr-Carpenter, D-Billings, reminded the body that they weren’t discussing THC levels, detrimental medical effects of the drug, or regulating the industry — the bill is simply about funding.
“We have the good sponsor taking revenue that we allocated a couple sessions ago that goes to a purpose for conservation of public lands, and instead takes it and diverts it over into mental health care and substance use prevention. And my question is, why can’t we do both at the same time?” Kerr-Carpenter said. “We do not have to take from one to do the other. We don’t have to choose.”
McGillvray reemphasized that he believes FWP is “flush with cash” — despite some specific “flush” accounts he referenced having limitations for spending — and that they don’t need to take in marijuana revenue.
“We don’t use revenue from gas taxes to deal with Medicaid or health concerns, we use it for roads and bridges and stuff of that nature,” he said. “If you use revenue for marijuana to deal with the harms of marijuana, it’s what we do and how we logically allocate revenue.”
The bill passed the Senate 30-20, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition.
SB 307 will have a hearing before the Senate Finance and Claims committee on March 24, and the full Senate will vote one more time on the measure.