Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1846

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26
• Refer: 2/3/26

Caption

Excise tax; authorizing counties and municipalities to levy excise tax on marijuana. Effective date.

Summary

SB 1846 authorizes Oklahoma municipalities and counties to impose local excise taxes on the sale of medical marijuana, subject to voter approval. A local tax could be adopted only after approval by a majority of registered voters at a special election called by the governing body or through an initiative petition signed by at least 5% of registered voters. If voters reject the proposal, the local government must wait six months before calling another special election on the same issue. The bill also sets procedural rules for petitions, signature collection, ballot title consistency, and the timing of when an approved tax takes effect. The bill requires any local marijuana excise tax to be tied to a stated purpose and allows the tax to be limited or unlimited in duration, so long as the duration is disclosed to voters. For municipalities, the bill prohibits redirecting dedicated tax revenue to another purpose without another vote of the people. For counties, it creates county excise tax revolving funds to hold and spend the revenue for the designated purpose, and those funds would not be subject to fiscal year limitations. The bill also provides that if recreational marijuana is later legalized under state law, the same local tax authority would automatically extend to recreational marijuana at the same rates and conditions.

Impact

If enacted, the bill would add new sections to Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes giving municipalities and counties explicit authority to levy local excise taxes on medical marijuana sales. It would also create new election and petition procedures for approving those taxes, establish timing rules for implementation, and require local governments to specify the tax’s purpose and duration. Counties that adopt such taxes would be required to create dedicated revolving funds for the revenue, and municipalities would be restricted from repurposing dedicated tax proceeds without voter approval.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee transcript or vote history, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the materials provided. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be a revenue and local control proposal rather than a broad regulatory change. Its structure suggests an emphasis on voter approval and earmarking of funds, which may be intended to make the tax authority more acceptable to local residents and officials.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are likely to be whether local governments should be allowed to tax medical marijuana sales at all, and whether the tax should require direct voter approval rather than being imposed by ordinance alone. Another possible issue is the bill’s requirement that tax revenue be dedicated to a stated purpose, along with the restriction on redirecting funds without another vote, which limits local budget flexibility. The automatic extension to recreational marijuana if state law later changes could also be controversial because it would expand local tax authority without requiring a new bill.