JUNEAU — Marijuana growers in Alaska could see operation expenses spike if a tax and bond bill introduced by an Anchorage lawmaker passes.
The bill would punitively tax marijuana grown illegally in the state and add a $5,000 cash bond requirement for new legal marijuana businesses.
A House Labor and Commerce committee heard support from the Alaska Department of Revenue on Wednesday during a first hearing on Republican Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux’s bill.
“The initiative itself referred to treating marijuana like alcohol,” said Ken Alper, director of the department. “Many of the powers embedded in this bill are powers that we currently have on alcohol and make it much easier for us to administer the alcohol tax. We think we’ll do a better job of collecting Alaska’s marijuana tax if we have the authorities in this legislation.”
Detractors of the bill said the requirement of a $5,000 cash bond could keep smaller commercial growers out of the industry. The bond would be collected if a marijuana business failed to pay its taxes.
Brian Olson, owner of Alaska Berries winery in Soldotna, said he intends to file for a cultivation license.
“A $5,000 cash bond, on top of a $1,000 non-refundable application and a $1,000 license, by the time they get all of the security deposits in there, they’ve got a lot of money invested in a small operation,” he said. “I do believe it’s going to really hamper this beginning industry.”
The bill also makes product manufacturers and retailers liable for marijuana taxes on their inventory. A licensed business would be deterred from selling marijuana that was purchased from an unlicensed grower if they were required to pay taxes on any inventory they could not prove came from a legal grower, LeDoux said in her sponsor statement.
The bill would put a $50-an-ounce penalty on marijuana that is found to be grown illegally, though it is unclear exactly how much revenue the state would generate from such a penalty as illegal marijuana busts are inconsistent.
LeDoux referenced a record bust in Homer in mid-February during which Homer police discovered 1,000 cannabis plants in a warehouse with an estimated value of $1.5 million. Alper estimated the state would levy about $250,000 in penalties for a bust of that magnitude.
Still, he said, taxing marijuana is not likely to solve the state’s budget problems without a significant increase in consumption.
“If only we can get every Alaskan to consume about 10 pounds of marijuana a year, we could probably balance the budget,” Alper said, grinning. As committee members laughed, he said: “We might have some other social problems.”
