Kentucky Democrats move to legalize, tax marijuana, but bipartisan support is a long shot

FRANKFORT — Democratic state legislators filed bills Thursday to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana sales in Kentucky — one of just 13 states with a total prohibition on both medical and recreational cannabis.

The identical bills filed in the House and Senate — sponsored by Rep. Rachel Roberts of Newport and Sens. Morgan McGarvey and David Yates of Louisville — would not just create a regulatory and taxing structure for recreational marijuana, but also create the automatic expungement of marijuana-related misdemeanors within one year.

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At a press conference Thursday, the Democratic sponsors said their legislation would create a new signature "Kentucky Proud" agricultural industry, save millions of dollars from the criminal justice system and create a stream of revenue for state and local government.

"While cannabis will not be a panacea for all that ails the state, Kentucky stands to gain up to $100 million a year if our sales near those of our neighbors in Michigan and Illinois — but not if we keep letting neighboring states beat us to the punch," Roberts said.

Roberts said Kentucky is "leaving money on the table" by not acting, citing Michigan raising $82.8 million in tax revenue in the first 13 months after sales were legalized in December 2019, which now amount to well over $9 million per month.

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However, legislation led by Democrats to completely legalize marijuana would appear to be a longshot to pass through the Republican-dominated General Assembly, where even bipartisan bills to strictly regulate medical marijuana have stalled over the past decade.

The House passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, to legalize medical marijuana for the first time in 2020, but it was not taken up in the Senate. A similar bill filed by Nemes was not taken up last year and his revamped bill filed in the current session has not yet been assigned to committee.

Under Democrats' bills, branded as the L.E.T.T.'s Grow bill — legalize, expunge, treat and tax — the regulatory structure "from seed to sale" would be determined by a new Cannabis Control Board made up of seven members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

The legislation would also create a 19-member Social Impact Council to use a portion of state proceeds for scholarships and grants to groups that have been subject to "historical overuse of criminal justice responses."

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Marijuana sales would be subject to the state's 6% sales tax, and local governments could impose a license fee of up to 5%, though counties could opt out of allowing legal marijuana sales.

Roberts said the maximum 11% tax rate is much lower than Illinois' 25% tax rate and in line with the 10% tax rate in Michigan.

Noting that 7,600 Kentuckians were arrested for marijuana offenses in 2018 — mostly possession and disproportionately Black and young — Yates said the bill would let law enforcement and the criminal justice system correctly focus on increasing violent crime.

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Citing the groundswell of support to legalize marijuana — with polls showing a majority of Kentuckians now in favor — McGarvey said many states have had legal marijuana for years, and "the problems that people fear simply aren't manifesting" there.

As for the bills' chances, Yates said marijuana use is already a reality in Kentucky, adding that members are voting on "whether or not we're going to take on the responsibility properly regulated."

"I think you'd be surprised how many lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, all across the state, are coming up in the hallways and in the chamber saying 'it's time we do something to legalize marijuana in Kentucky,'" McGarvey said. "So there's been a lot of movement on this, and I think you're gonna see bipartisan support."

House Bill 136

As for House Bill 136, the medical marijuana bill from Nemes, the Republican legislator did not have a timeline for when his bill would move through committee, but he is confident it has enough support among his caucus to pass the House.

As for that bill's chances in the opposite chamber, Sen. Whitney Westerfield, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, worked with Nemes on changes to the bill last year so that he and other Republicans in his caucus could support the legislation — but GOP leadership has expressed skepticism on the issue.

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Roberts has filed a floor amendment to Nemes' bill to allow those with PTSD to also be eligible for medical marijuana — saying it would be small progress but would not go far enough.

"We are so far behind our neighboring states and 37 other states that an incremental approach to this is just going to keep us at the back of the pack," Roberts said.

Jim Higdon, the co-founder of CBD company Cornbread Hemp, reacted to the Democrats' legislation by saying that "finally, an organized political party in Kentucky has learned to embrace the full legalization of cannabis. It’s a concept favored by the vast majority of Kentuckians, including a majority of Republicans. It’s time to bring Kentucky agriculture into the 21st century.”

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today at the top of this page.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky marijuana: Democrats push bill to legalize, regulate weed