A Michigan state lawmaker announced his plans on Oct. 22 to rein in Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to fix the “damn roads” on the backs of the state’s licensed cannabis industry and those they serve.
Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, promised to “soon” introduce legislation that would suspend the state’s 24% cannabis wholesale tax, which went into effect at the start of 2026. Whitmer devised the new tax as part of a budget plan to repair roads, bridges and other infrastructure throughout Michigan.
DeBoyer, who is running on the 2026 Republican ticket for lieutenant governor, called the 24% wholesale tax “ineffective” and “punitive.”
The wholesale tax is in addition to the state’s 10% cannabis excise tax at retail and 6% sales tax. Industry stakeholders pleaded last year, when Whitmer’s Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act was included in the state’s $81 billion budget, that the wholesale tax would drive many operators out of business in Michigan’s unlimited license market, where oversupply has led to some of the lowest cannabis prices in the nation.
In August, one cannabis licensee closed five of its nine dispensaries in the Upper Peninsula, citing the new 24% tax as creating an “increasingly unsustainable operating environment,” especially in smaller and rural communities.
Now, DeBoyer wants to suspend that tax for 12 months to allow lawmakers time to reevaluate its effectiveness and to alleviate the burdens he said it has placed on small businesses.
