Illinois made $36.1 million final 12 months in tax revenues from hashish gross sales by Wisconsin residents, in response to a memo from the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB). The report got here on the request of state Sen. Melissa Agard (D) who has been pushing for hashish legalization within the state since 2013.
Based on the LFB report, citing Illinois Division of Monetary and Skilled Regulation (IDFPR) knowledge, Illinois dispensaries made $1,552.3 million in hashish gross sales – excluding tax income – in calendar 12 months 2022. The IDFPR signifies that $239.7 million, or 15.4%, of these gross sales have been generated by dispensaries positioned in counties bordering Wisconsin.
“Of the gross sales made in counties bordering Wisconsin, $121.2 million, or 50.6%, of those gross sales have been to out-of-state residents. Relative to marijuana gross sales statewide, roughly 7.8% of whole hashish gross sales income in Illinois got here from gross sales made to out-of-state residents in counties bordering Wisconsin in calendar 12 months 2022.” — LFB memo, “Illinois Marijuana Tax Collections on Gross sales and Estimated Wisconsin Residents,” Mar. 10, 2023
A February Wisconsin Coverage Discussion board report discovered that half of the state’s residents aged 21 or older – or about 2.16 million individuals – already stay inside 75 minutes of an adult-use dispensary in both Illinois or Michigan and one other 30% stay inside an hour’s drive.
The IDFPR evaluation offered within the memo assumes that every one gross sales to out-of-state residents in Illinois counties bordering Wisconsin have been made to Wisconsin residents and estimates that such gross sales represent 7.8% of whole Illinois cannabis-related tax income. The memo notes that “it’s attainable that not all gross sales to out-of-state residents in counties bordering Wisconsin have been made to Wisconsin residents.”
In a press release, Agard stated that Wisconsinites ought to be “upset” that their “hard-earned tax {dollars} are going throughout the border to Illinois.”
“That is income that could possibly be going towards Wisconsin’s public colleges, transportation infrastructure and public security,” she stated. “As an alternative, Illinois is reaping the advantages of Republican obstructionism and their prohibitionist stance on marijuana legalization.”
Agard added that Wisconsin is “an island of prohibition and the individuals of our state are hurting due to it.”
“As seen in our neighboring states, legalizing marijuana for accountable grownup utilization will generate vital income for our mainstreets, safely regulate the present illicit market, reinvest in our agriculture and farming heritage, help entrepreneurship, and tackle the huge and egregious racial disparities from marijuana prohibition,” she stated within the assertion.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has included hashish legalization in his annual price range proposal. In 2021, he was teased by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker who thanked him for the tax revenues offered to the state by Wisconsin residents who cross the border to purchase hashish.
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