New York Senate Bill S03135

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Repeals the excise tax on medical cannabis and the medical cannabis trust fund.

Summary

S03135 would repeal two provisions of New York law tied to the medical cannabis market: section 490 of the Tax Law, which imposes an excise tax on medical cannabis, and section 89-h of the State Finance Law, which establishes the medical cannabis trust fund. The bill is straightforward and does not create a new regulatory framework; instead, it removes these existing tax and fund provisions and makes the change effective immediately. In practical terms, the bill would eliminate the state excise tax currently applied to medical cannabis and end the statutory basis for the dedicated trust fund associated with those revenues. That would affect medical cannabis businesses, patients, and any state or local administration of cannabis-related tax collections and fund distributions. Because the bill only repeals these sections, it would alter state tax and finance law by removing these specific revenue mechanisms rather than replacing them with alternatives.

Impact

The bill would amend New York’s tax and finance statutes by repealing Tax Law section 490 and State Finance Law section 89-h. This would remove the legal authority for the medical cannabis excise tax and the medical cannabis trust fund, affecting how medical cannabis sales are taxed and how related revenues are handled by the state. The immediate effect would be to reduce or eliminate a state tax burden on medical cannabis and to discontinue the dedicated fund structure tied to that revenue stream.

Sentiment

No committee transcript or recorded vote information is available for this bill, so there is no direct evidence of legislative debate or formal support/opposition in the provided materials. Based on the bill text and caption alone, the measure appears policy-focused and targeted, with a clear intent to reduce taxation and simplify the handling of medical cannabis revenues. The absence of recorded discussion makes the overall sentiment difficult to gauge beyond the bill’s narrow, repeal-oriented purpose.

Contention

The main point of contention likely concerns the policy tradeoff between lowering costs for medical cannabis patients and businesses versus preserving a dedicated tax revenue source and trust fund. Supporters would likely favor repeal as a way to reduce the financial burden on medical cannabis and potentially improve access, while opponents may argue that eliminating the tax and trust fund could reduce state revenue or disrupt funding streams previously tied to cannabis-related purposes. No specific individuals or groups are identified in the provided record as taking these positions.