No New Cannabis Taxes - Oppose HB 2505
Oregon House Committee On Economic Development and Small Business
Friends and members of the Oregon cannabis community,
Help fight the effort to raise cannabis sales taxes by 7% - AGAIN! Take 30 seconds and sign this critical petition now. Every day counts!
Oregon’s adult-use cannabis industry is under attack AGAIN from legislators who want to drastically increase cannabis sales taxes. They think Oregon consumers will just foot the bill, but we know better. Higher sales taxes will drive consumers to the illegal market, destroy small businesses, and damage product development and innovation. Worst of all, these sales taxes fall disproportionately on those in our communities who can least afford it. Cannabis is already contributing more than four times the expected revenue to the state and now they want more.
We can’t let this happen and we need your help to stop it. Help us say, loud and clear, that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - No New Cannabis Sales Taxes In Oregon. Sign this petition today!
You can view the bill here - HB 2505 Text
Sincerely,
Jesse Bontecou, CIA of Oregon (formerly ORCA, OIPA, & FARMS Inc),
Petition by
To:
Oregon House Committee On Economic Development and Small Business
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Chair Bynum and the Members of the House Committee On Economic Development and Small Business,
We, the undersigned, ask that you do not allow HB 2505 to move forward.
Allowing localities to raise the total retail sales tax to 27% will create a patchwork quilt of confusing policies across multiple jurisdictions for companies, while consumers in most places will simply drive to the next nearest locale to purchase cheaper cannabis. Oregon’s cannabis consumers are very price-conscious and a large portion are low-income. HB 2505 is regressive.
An increase in taxes will alienate our government-constrained consumer base and will devastate an already unstable industry. Many Oregonians cannot tolerate an increase in the cost of legal cannabis and will move back to the illicit market, which is an untaxed, underpriced, untested, and unregulated market - potentially bringing their coworkers, friends, and family with them. HB 2505 jeopardizes public health.
The ripple effects up and down the license types will pick up momentum at every stop along the way - ultimately landing on the beleaguered growers, who already serve as the bank and consignment shop for the entire supply chain. Cannabis licensees have gone above and beyond to comply with a massive amount of state and federal regulations. And even while hanging on for dear life as uncapitalized, under-supported small businesses, in just six years have created a billion-dollar industry and generated approximately 20,000 jobs. HB 2505 undermines economic growth.
This bill would create a regressive sales tax designed to cater to special government interests, on the backs of law-abiding, Oregon-grown, small businesses and their limited, legal consumers. HB 2505 punishes Oregonians who are acting legally.
We ask that oppose HB 2505 and do not allow it to move forward.
Sincerely,
The undersigned cannabis industry licensees, consumers, and supporters.