Earlier this month, the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development announced the fiscal year 2024-25 grant recipients for the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions, totaling over $18 million to bring more operators into the legal market across 18 local jurisdictions throughout the state. The California Cannabis Equity Act of 2018 (Senate Bill 1294) established, and the Budget Act of 2019 appropriated funding for, this state program to support local jurisdictions in developing and operating local cannabis equity programs that focus on the inclusion and support of individuals in California’s legal cannabis marketplace who are from communities negatively or disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization. Since the first grants were distributed in 2019, over $123 million in grant funds have been awarded to 34 local jurisdictions across the state under this program. This year’s largest individual grant amount ($3.5 million) recipient, the City of Los Angeles, expects to use $3.1 million for fee waivers for verified social equity applicants and licensees. The City of Sacramento anticipates seeing its $1.68 million grant go toward funding for business operations and technical assistance under the city’s Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity (CORE) program, designed to address the impact of the War on Drugs on communities of color and other marginalized groups. Nevada County will receive $500,000 in state grant funds to offer professional consulting, environmental site development, business training, and compliance assistance to social equity licensees. Sonoma County will award 93% of its $558,000 in state grant funds to verified applicants for uses including rent, licensing fees, legal assistance, regulatory compliance, cannabis testing, capital improvements, security equipment, workforce training, bookkeeping services, marketing, and tax relief. The City of Long Beach will direct 80% of its $1.2 million grant to assist equity applicants with startup costs, including rent/lease payments, local licensing and regulatory fees, legal assistance, regulatory compliance, capital improvements, furniture, fixtures, and equipment. From its over $2 million in grant funds under the state program, the City of Oakland will award grants in an amount up to $250,000 per grant directly to local equity licensees and applicants. The City of Palm Springs and the City of Coachella will receive $538,000 and $200,000, respectively, in grant funds under the state program. The other local jurisdictions receiving grant funds this year are: The City and County of San Francisco ($3.3 million), San Diego County ($1.4 million), Humboldt County ($657K), Mendocino County ($613K), The City of Richmond ($600K), The City of Nevada City ($558K), Trinity County ($500K), The City of Vista ($250K), The City of Watsonville ($250K), and The City of Santa Monica ($35K).
