Enacts the "cannabis oversight and official engagement act"; requires the office of cannabis management to notify appropriate elected officials of applications for adult-use retail dispensaries in their legislative districts; requires the office to consider any responses from such elected officials in determining an application for an adult-use retail dispensary license; requires such communications to be made public.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4360
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FALL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Economic Development
AN ACT to amend the cannabis law, in relation to enacting the "cannabis
oversight and official engagement act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "cannabis oversight and official engagement act".
3 § 2. The cannabis law is amended by adding a new section 76-a to read
4 as follows:
5 § 76-a. Notification to elected officials of adult-use retail dispen-
6 sary license. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the
7 following terms shall have the following meanings:
8 (a) "Adult-use retail dispensary license" means an adult-use retail
9 dispensary license issued pursuant to section seventy-two of this arti-
10 cle.
11 (b) "Elected official" means the elected member of the assembly or
12 senate representing a legislative district.
13 (c) "Legislative district" means an assembly or senate district in the
14 state, as designated by the most recently approved districting or redis-
15 tricting plan.
16 2. Notice requirement. (a) Prior to the approval of any application
17 for an adult-use retail dispensary license, the office shall notify the
18 elected officials representing the legislative districts within which
19 the proposed adult-use retail dispensary would be located of such appli-
20 cation. Such notice shall be sent no later than thirty days before a
21 decision is made regarding such application. Such notice shall be sent
22 by certified mail, electronic mail, or any other method deemed reliable
23 by the office.
24 (b) The notice required under paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall
25 include:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08736-01-5
A. 4360 2
1 (i) the trade name and address of the proposed adult-use retail
2 dispensary;
3 (ii) the full name and contact information of the applicant;
4 (iii) a summary of the proposed operation and business model of the
5 proposed adult-use retail dispensary;
6 (iv) the date, to be determined by the office, by which the elected
7 officials may submit any comments or objections regarding the applica-
8 tion for an adult-use retail dispensary license; and
9 (v) any other information as may be determined by the office.
10 3. Response from elected officials. Elected officials may submit to
11 the office any written feedback, support, concerns, or objections they
12 may have regarding an application for an adult-use retail dispensary
13 license within twenty days of receipt of the notice sent pursuant to
14 subdivision two of this section. The office shall consider any such
15 written feedback, support, concerns, or objections submitted by elected
16 officials in making its decision to approve or reject an application for
17 an adult-use retail dispensary license.
18 4. Record and transparency. All communications between the office and
19 elected officials pursuant to this section shall be a part of the public
20 record, subject to any applicable state or federal laws concerning
21 privacy and confidentiality. The office shall publish all such communi-
22 cations and its final decision regarding any application for an adult-
23 use retail dispensary on its website.
24 5. Rules and regulations. The office is authorized to promulgate any
25 rules and/or regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this
26 section.
27 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to all
28 applications for adult-use retail dispensary licenses submitted to the
29 office of cannabis management on or after such date.
