A new New York cannabis budget blueprint could inject more than $10 million into the struggling legal market. City & State reports that both Senate and Assembly one-house bills earmark cash for farmers, software and workforce training—welcome news for cultivators still sitting on unsold flower.
Read the full City & State article → https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/03/legislature-proposes-spending-millions-help-legal-cannabis-industry/403729/
Where the money goes in the New York cannabis budget
- $5 M revolving loan fund for adult-use cultivators and micro-businesses (Assembly).
- $100 K each for the Cannabis Farmers Alliance and the Cannabis Association of New York (both houses).
- $5 M to build a state-funded track-and-trace system that helps regulators flag illicit inventory (Senate).
- $2 M for the Cornell ILR Cannabis Workforce Initiative to train budtenders and lab techs.
- Extra head-count at the Office of Cannabis Management geared toward enforcement.
Why it matters
Growers harvested more than 250,000 pounds last season, but with retail licenses delayed, much of that crop never reached shelves. Joseph Calderone of the Cannabis Farmers Alliance told City & State, “We’re going up against housing and Medicaid dollars, so even one-half percent of the total budget feels like a win.”
A statewide track-and-trace platform could also curb “cannabis inversion”—illicit products smuggled into NY and sold as legal—while sparing farmers the per-tag fees charged in other states.
What comes next
- Budget negotiations wrap by April 1; advocates want loan terms finalized before planting season.
- OCM rule-making must clarify how small cultivators can tap the fund without onerous collateral.
- Enforcement + education: lawmakers urge pairing crack-downs on illegal shops with grants for equity operators.