The Minnesota House of Representatives voted last week to adopt new social equity rules and other changes to the state’s adult-use cannabis program, according to a MinnPost report.
House Bill 4757 was approved on a mostly party-line vote but its sponsor Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) said he was open to additional changes.
“I look forward to the conference committee discussion and continued good work on this bill. Particularly on the provisions surrounding the proposed changes to the lottery, which I know a lot of people are working on and thinking about.” — Stephenson, via MinnPost
If passed into law, the proposal would establish an earlier cannabis business license lottery for social equity applicants, which include people living in high-poverty areas, people living in areas where cannabis enforcement has been more commonplace, and people with cannabis-related convictions on their record; additionally, the law would reduce the amount of up-front financing required for social equity applicants from 100% to 65%. The social equity lottery would come before a general licensing lottery and the earlier licensees would be able to open their businesses ahead of the competition. Under the House-approved rules, social equity license holders would be able to sell their license to a non-social equity
