Bill > SB51

Introduced Session

Establish KRS Chapter 245, relating to cannabis, to administer its cultivation, processing, transportation, sale, use, taxation, and licensing; define terms; establish the Cannabis Control Board and its membership, procedures, powers, and duties; direct the board to promulgate administrative regulations for the administration and enforcement of the chapter; set up advisory committees appointed by the board; create the Department of Cannabis Control within the Public Protection Cabinet for the oversight of cannabis operations and to provide administrative support for the board; establish various one-year business licenses under the chapter; grant administrative hearings under KRS Chapter 13B to appeal a license denial or revocation; forbid an employer from discriminating against applicants or employees who use cannabis outside of working hours as long as the use does not affect job performance; prohibit a person under the age of 21 from purchasing, possessing, consuming, or using cannabis; establish a revolving account called the "cannabis fund" to collect cannabis licensing fees, fines, excise taxes, and any other funds; form the Social Impact Council as a public agency authorized to distribute moneys from the cannabis fund; set council membership, procedures, powers, and duties; create new sections of KRS Chapter 138 to define terms; impose an excise tax at a rate set by the Cannabis Control Board on the first sale or transfer of harvested cannabis; establish excise tax reporting, collection, and liability; amend KRS 139.472 to exempt medical cannabis and accessories from sales and use taxes; create a new section of KRS Chapter 65 to authorize local governments to levy up to a 5% license fee on the gross receipts of a retailer or microbusiness; allow overlapping local governments to agree to levy a combined license fee, with set fee amounts absent an agreement; amend KRS 2.015 to require a person to be 21 years of age or older to purchase cannabis and its products and accessories; create new sections of KRS 218A and amend KRS 218A.1421, 218A.1422, 218A.1423, and 218A.500 to exempt licensed cannabis activities from criminal marijuana offenses; create a new section of KRS Chapter 431 to allow a person to petition the court to expunge the person's misdemeanor marijuana offenses; amend KRS 431.079 to exclude the expungement petition from the certification of eligibility requirement; amend KRS 131.1815 to notify the Cannabis Control Board if a cannabis licensee is a delinquent taxpayer; amend KRS 600.020 to include cannabis offenses in the list of juvenile status offenses; amend KRS 12.020 to add the governmental entities created in KRS Chapter 245 to the list of executive branch government bodies; set initial terms for members of the Cannabis Control Board and Social Impact Council; apply the excise tax beginning on July 1, 2024, and allow cannabis sales beginning on July 1, 2025; Section 31 of Act RETROACTIVE; APPROPRIATION.

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David Yates (D)*, 

to Appropriations & Revenue (S) (on 03/01/2023)

Official Document