The Missouri Veterans Commission will likely receive about $19 million from marijuana sales revenue before the current fiscal year is over on July 1, Amy Moore, director of the Division of Cannabis Regulation, told a House committee on this week.
Next year it will be $22 million, she said, if the governor鈥檚 budget recommendations are approved.
鈥淭he governor鈥檚 recommendation is quite a bit more than expected,鈥� Moore told members of the House Veterans Committee, 鈥渁nd that is tied to the unexpectedly robust sales, mostly on the adult-use side.鈥�
Since Missouri鈥檚 marijuana sales began in 2019, the state has collected more than $150 million in revenue from taxes and program fees, according to a Moore shared with the committee.
Etched in the state鈥檚 constitution is a for where the revenue can go.
The first stop is operational costs. By law, any expense it takes to run both medical and recreational marijuana programs 鈥� like salaries or professional services 鈥� all must be paid for through marijuana revenues.
The division has received nearly $50 million to cover its operating expenses, the presentation shows.
After expenses, the that legalized medical marijuana in 2018 mandated that revenues from medical sales go towards the Missouri Veterans Commission. To date, nearly $40 million in medical marijuana sales revenue has gone to the commission 鈥� including $13 million this year.
The revenue road map is a bit different for the adult-use marijuana program, and it鈥檚 defined in that was approved by voters in November 2022.
After paying operational costs, the next draw on the fund is expenses incurred by the from people鈥檚 criminal records.
After that, revenues are split in three ways: supporting veterans, funding drug addiction treatment programs and adding to the Missouri Public Defenders System鈥檚 budget.
So far, each of these funds has received , Moore said, but the governor is proposing an additional $5 million to each in his recommendation for this year.
All together that would be $19.3 million going to support veterans this year: $13 million from medical marijuana sales and $6.3 million from adult-use.
Moore said the governor鈥檚 budget recommendations for next fiscal year includes an additional $7.8 million 鈥� putting the total at $22 million.
State Rep. Dave Griffith, a Republican from Jefferson City and the veterans committee chairman, said the numbers are encouraging.
鈥淭he amount of sales that they鈥檝e had with commercial marijuana has been just record-breaking and exceeded all expectations and projections,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause of that, there鈥檚 going to be even more money into that pool than what they projected right after [Amendment 3] passed.鈥�
The Missouri Veterans Commission has three core responsibilities, Griffith said: maintaining the state鈥檚 veterans homes and cemeteries and providing service officers to assist veterans with their benefits.
Griffith said his goal is to get the commission鈥檚 annual allocation up to $50 million that wouldn鈥檛 be reliant on marijuana revenue.
Before Moore鈥檚 presentation, the committee was discussing challenges that some veterans face obtaining their benefits. The state needs more service officers to assist them, he said, and that鈥檚 why the funding is so important.
鈥淢any of them, they鈥檙e so overburdened with their caseloads that it鈥檚 hard to get in with them,鈥� Griffith said. 鈥淚f we can increase the number we have, we can start trying to cut down on that wait time many veterans have.鈥�
