Jacob Ogles
Rep. Michelle Salzman overnight filed an amendment to House hemp legislation that would levy a 15% excise tax on THC-infused goods.
New proposed language for a House committee bill (HB 7029) would impose the tax on consumable goods derived from hemp. The legislation, first passed out of the House Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee, would have imposed higher taxes similar to cigarettes for edible products. But this legislation sets a lower 15% excise tax on hemp consumables across the board.
That’s a lower amount than Salzman, a Pensacola Republican, discussed with Florida Politics over the weekend, when she suggested a 20% charge would be proposed. That suggests House conversations are shifting toward lower charges being adopted.
The amendment will be taken up at a House Budget Committee meeting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
In addition to setting the tax, the amendment also establishes how much of the revenue raised should be spent. The proposed language allocates the first $6 million of proceeds to go toward law enforcement and testing, with the rest funding general revenue.
The legislation also puts tax filing requirements on dealers, including electronic filing for any dealer of hemp consumables who has paid more than $5,000 in taxes in recent years.
This amendment deals entirely with financial issues surrounding the effort in the Legislature to establish a regulatory framework around hemp. The House Budget Committee will also take up a policy-focused bill (HB 7027), and Salzman has signaled another amendment to that legislation will be filed before both hemp bills land before the House Commerce Committee ahead of Session’s end.
The Senate has already passed hemp legislation as a single bill (SB 438), and Salzman said the chambers will likely have to negotiate differences between the bills in conference.
Meanwhile, the work this year follows efforts to pass regulations last year that were ultimately vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
