As policymakers in Montpelier plan for an August session, they turn to bills with economic potential for the state. We see signs cannabis legislation will come back during that time, before the biennial adjournment.

In a recent VTDigger article, House leadership expressed interest in revisiting bill s.54 during their planned late summer legislative session. Speaker Johnson mentioned concerns over the governments capacity to set up a brand new state agency, with an annual operating budget of over $1 million, while the government is operating at full capacity during the health crisis, but she said passage is still possible. Senator Sears, a sponsor of bill s.54, told VTDigger, “I think that during a recovery period you want to have as many jobs as possible, this is going to create jobs. It’s also going to bring revenue to the state.” The bill currently resides in conference committee, a joint committee of House and Senate members, though they have yet to convene.

Outside of Montpelier, we also see signs amongst the few proponents of s.54 that they’re preparing for a final push to see the bill become law. The COVID-19 health crisis has devastated Vermonts economy, just like so many other states across the country, many Vermonter’s are suffering as a result, and we anticipate the supporters of s.54 will use the crisis to attempt to drive their message to policymakers.

As currently written, bill s.54 will only allow the 5 state-registered medical dispensaries to retail recreational cannabis, farmers will not be able to cultivate cannabis outside, and the new state agency, the Cannabis Control Board, comes with a $1 million price tag and takes several months to setup. So we ask, what impact would the current version of s.54 really have on Vermont’s economy?

By the way, welcome to the new VGA blog! In addition to regular legislative updates, we plan to make this new section of the website a public resource for insightful commentary about cannabis in Vermont, what’s happening other states, and the plant itself. Please check back often!