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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 177
H.P. 110 House of Representatives, January 14, 2025
An Act to Create Municipal Cannabis Revenue Sharing
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ADAMS of Lebanon.
Page 1 - 132LR0542(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 28-B MRSA §1101, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 2023, c. 679, Pt. B,
3 §139, is further amended to read:
4 C. Money credited to the fund may be expended by the The office to shall on an annual
5 basis provide 10% of the money credited to the fund as reimbursement to a
6 municipality for qualifying expenses incurred as a result of the municipality's
7 municipalities opting to permit the operation of some or all adult use cannabis
8 establishments within the municipality. For the purposes of this paragraph, "qualifying
9 expenses" means legal fees and costs associated with the drafting and adoption of a
10 warrant article or the adoption or amendment of an ordinance, including the conduct
11 of a town meeting or election, by a municipality that opted to permit the operation of
12 some or all cannabis establishments within the municipality. Each municipality may
13 receive funds, not to exceed $20,000, only once for the reimbursement of qualifying
14 expenses in accordance with this paragraph. Nothing in this paragraph may be
15 construed to require the office to reimburse qualifying expenses incurred by a
16 municipality if the office determines there are insufficient funds available to provide
17 reimbursement. Under no circumstances may a municipality submit an initial
18 application for the reimbursement of qualifying expenses more than 3 years after the
19 municipality adopts a warrant article or adopts or amends an ordinance to allow for the
20 operation of some or all adult use cannabis establishments within the municipality. The
21 office may adopt rules to implement and administer the reimbursement of qualifying
22 expenses to municipalities. Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine
23 technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A. The office may not
24 reimburse qualifying expenses under this paragraph accrued after July 1, 2027. The
25 office shall distribute the reimbursement equally to all municipalities that qualify for
26 the reimbursement.
27SUMMARY
28 This bill directs that 10% of the money credited to the Adult Use Cannabis Public
29 Health and Safety and Municipal Opt-in Fund be equally distributed to municipalities that
30 opt to permit the operation of some or all adult use cannabis establishments.
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