Michigan’s full Senate has given approval to legislation that would allow the state to enter into agreements with Indian tribes while exempting them from the state’s marijuana excise tax.
The Senate voted 29 to 9 to pass Senate Bill 180, filed by Republican Senator Roger Hauck along with six Democrat cosponsors. The proposal would “allow the Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) to enter into an agreement with an Indian tribe pertaining to marijuana related business”, and would “specify that sales of marijuana by a tribal marijuana business on Indian lands would be exempt from the State’s 10% excise tax on marijuana.”
SB 180 now goes to the House of Representatives. Proposal in that chamber would send the measure to the desk of Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
In Michigan marijuana was legalized in 2018 via the passage of Proposal 18-1. The law does not address businesses owned by tribes and operated on tribal land.
According to its official legislative summary, SB 180 would amend the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act(MRTMA) to do the following:
- Allow the Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) to enter into an agreement with an Indian
tribe pertaining to marijuana related business if the agreement and the Indian tribe met
certain conditions. - Prohibit the CRA from employing any individual with pecuniary interests in tribal
marijuana. - Specify that sales of marijuana by a tribal marijuana business on Indian lands would be
exempt from the State’s 10% excise tax on marijuana.
For the full text of SB 180, click here.
