LINCOLN — Mike Martinez of Leavenworth Coughy says he usually doesn’t pay too close attention to what lawmakers are doing in Lincoln.
But that all changed when he saw the legislature’s latest proposal to cut property taxes.
“I almost thought I was reading an article from The Onion,” said Martinez.
100% is a lot to ask for but that’s exactly what lawmakers are proposing the state tax CBD and Hemp products at as a part of LB388, which has become one of the most important pieces of Pillen’s promise to reduce property taxes by 40%.
For comparison, in Nebraska cigarettes have an excise tax of 64 cents per pack.
Lawmakers have proposed to increase that to $1 a pack, a jump of only roughly 55%
This isn’t the first time this year that lawmakers have taken aim at hemp products.
Earlier this year Senator Theresa Ibach proposed LB999 which would restrict the sale or possession of consumable hemp products, that bill has stalled in committee and Martinez wonders if lawmakers are now trying to curb CBD and hemp sales through excessive taxes.
“Its a way of saying we don’t want this here but we know you are not gonna back that bill so we can slip it into this tax bill, with numerous other topics, and it will get brushed under the rug and slip right through,” said Martinez.
A property owner himself, Martinez and says he sympathizes with the legislature’s efforts to reduce property taxes but he says they must do it within reason.
He points to states like West Virginia that recently passed their own hemp taxes but at much lower rates than Nebraska.
“With that tax they do 11% excise tax and then you have registration fees and licensing fees on top of that that have to be renewed on a yearly basis and that’s fair,” said Martinez.
Martinez says that if this tax hike is passed it will almost surely mean he will have to lay some of his employees off.
His smoke shop was operating before CBD and hemp became popular so he doesn’t think it will run him out of business but he says many of his peers who have turned their focus to hemp products wouldn’t be so lucky.
“There are hundreds of not thousands across the state. If there are hundreds that means there are potentially thousands of employees that will for sure be out of jobs,” said Martinez.
