132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 1840		LR 989(02)
	An Act to Amend the Maine Medical Use of Cannabis Act
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment " "
	Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
			FY 2025-26	FY 2026-27	Projections  FY 2027-28	Projections  FY 2028-29
Appropriations/Allocations
	Other Special Revenue Funds		$1,157,721	$1,245,073	$1,290,421	$1,337,536
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This bill prohibits the Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) within the Department of Administrative and Financial Services from requiring registrants to make attestations on registration and renewal forms regarding conduct authorized under the Medical Use of Cannabis Act, except where explicitly authorized by law. It expands the authorized venues where caregivers may sell or transfer medical cannabis to include trade shows and other industry-related events. The bill also requires annual reporting to include data on gross sales and sales tax revenue from medical cannabis.
	Under current statute, OCP is required to issue or deny a completed registration application within 30 days of receipt. OCP has indicated that the prohibition on the use of attestations will require licensing staff to manually review and verify certain information that was previously attested to by applicants. OCP has indicated that this additional workload cannot be absorbed within existing staffing, and additional staff would be required to ensure that applications or renewals continue to be processed within statutorily required deadlines. The bill includes ongoing Other Special Revenue Funds allocations of $1,157,721 to OCP beginning in fiscal year 2025-26 for one OCP Chief Licensing Investigator position, one Office Specialist I position and 8 OCP Licensing Analyst positions and associated All Other costs.
	In addition, OCP has indicated that the bill’s provisions allowing sales and transfers of cannabis at trade shows and other industry-related events may require compliance staff to attend such events in person to assess regulatory compliance. Because some of these events may occur outside normal business hours, OCP anticipates a need for additional staffing to support after-hours enforcement. Although the number of qualifying events is currently unknown, if a significant number do occur, the agency has indicated it would require additional allocations to fund one Field Investigator Supervisor, four Compliance Inspectors, and associated costs.