NEWS & RESOURCES

"Then the economic report, which has been referenced in your analysis and elsewhere, commissioned by the Department of Cannabis Control, affirms what operators have been saying,” Jenkins said. “California's excise taxes and licensing fees are 124% and 162% higher respectively than Michigan's. And altogether, our taxes and fees account for about 77.5% of total wholesale value. That is not a sustainable framework."

“We have an illicit underground industry that competes with them and doesn’t actually pay any of the fines and fees that aid in enforcement. And now we have a possible tax hike, an increase, which means that more and more people are going to lose their businesses, more jobs will be lost. This is not a tax decrease. This is simply a freeze. We’re just trying to fight another day.”

The California Cannabis Operators Association (CaCOA) delivered powerful testimony before the Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee on May 5, 2025, in support of AB 564 (Haney), which would halt the scheduled increase in the cannabis excise tax from 15% to 19% set to take effect July 1, 2025.

“We’re urging the Legislature and Administration to act quickly and freeze the tax at 15%. If we want a regulated market to survive in California, the time to intervene is now,” O’Gorman Jenkins said.

"Raising the cannabis excise tax from 15% to 19% during a market collapse is the equivalent of throwing an anchor to a drowning industry,” wrote Alex Freedman to me by email. “AB 564 offers a critical lifeline to California’s legal cannabis market to help stabilize an emerging industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs and millions in state revenue.”

Congrats to Leslie Mortland, Senior Cultivation Manager with 710 Labs, a CaCOA member and multi-state cannabis brand that focuses on organic, small-batch cannabis. Cannabis Business Times spotlighted her cannabis cultivation expertise, sharing game-changing insights she's gained that help her team excel.