The Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund in Massachusetts is flush with more than $27 million, according to a new report.
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The fund’s total balance, according to the state’s Executive Office of Economic Development, came largely from the first full annual transfer from the Marijuana Regulation Fund, which occurred Feb. 1.
The funding update was first reported by State House News Service.
Fifteen percent of the Marijuana Regulation Fund, which is financed by state marijuana application and licensing fees as well as state excise taxes, is earmarked to bolster the Cannabis Social Equity Trust fund.
The full annual transfer of $27.4 million followed an initial transfer of $2.3 million in December 2023.
Those responsible for the Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund faced pressure in 2023, when critics noted that it remained empty nearly two years after its creation.
But during the past year, Massachusetts lawmakers passed language to resolve an issue that prevented money from being transferred into the trust fund.
As of June 30, 2024, the balance of the trust fund was $27.3 million, reflecting funds paid through the Immediate Needs Grants Program (INGP), which launched in February.
The INGP provided $2.3 million in funds to 50 Massachusetts social equity and economic-empowerment businesses licensed by the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.
Individual grants, which ranged from $20,000 to $50,000, provided recipients with “critical support” for outstanding business expenses such as debt service, payroll, professional services, regulatory fees and rent.
The Executive Office of Economic Development and the Cannabis Social Equity Advisory Board plan to continue the INGP.
According to the annual report, those two agencies are in the process of developing a second round of financial assistance with the goal of “ensuring the full participation … of entrepreneurs from communities that have been disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement.”
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