California has awarded a second round of grants for community reinvestment to local health departments and nonprofits, using marijuana tax revenues.
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced the recipients of over $52 million.on Friday—a $11 million increase compared to 2024. It is the 7th round of California Community Reinvestment Grants under the State Program.
The organizations received grants ranging between $600,000.00 and $3,000,000.00 each for job placements, legal aid, treatment of substance abuse and mental disorders, and referrals to health care.
Dee Dee Myers said, in a release, “The California Community Reinvestment Grants Program continues to be a valuable tool for communities who have long faced barriers to opportunities.” Myers is a senior advisor and director at GO-Biz. This latest round will help to support the well-being and economic health of communities across California that deserve and need this level of investment.
The grant can cover 100 percent of the personnel costs involved in providing services. All direct costs, including training and equipment, are reimbursed 50%. The indirect costs cannot exceed 17 per cent of the award.
These are just a few examples of the grant recipients for 2018.
- Bay Area Legal Assistance: $906 712
- Safe Place For Youth : $600,000.00
- Legal Aid Society of San Bernardino, $2.012,684
- JobTrain: $3,000,000
- Santa Barbara County Public Health Department : 2,900,000 dollars
The department stated that “past federal and states drug policies have led to mass incarceration, reduced access to social service, lost educational attainment because of diminished eligibility for federal financial assistance, restrictions on using public housing and public assistance and separation of families.” The CalCRG Program aims to promote health, wellbeing and economic justice in these communities and populations.
GO-Biz has awarded over $50 million to reinvestment grant recipients in 2023. These include organizations like Goodwill of the San Francisco Bay (GBSB), Uncommon Law (Uncommon Law), the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, and the health departments of Los Angeles and Monterey Counties.
Funding levels for the program have generally been increasing year over year. CalCRG awarded grants of up to $29 million by the state in 2021. This initiative was announced for the first time in April 2020.
California legalized marijuana in 2005, which led to a series of new grants aimed at combating the effects of marijuana prohibition.
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California’s Supreme Court has delivered a win for its state’s cannabis program. The court reversed a ruling from a lower level of the courts that had suggested the federal prohibition could have been used to undercut the local market.
The state Supreme Court ruling also came just weeks after California officials unveiled a report on the current status and future of the state’s marijuana market—with independent analysts hired by regulators concluding that the federal prohibition on cannabis that prevents interstate commerce is meaningfully bolstering the illicit market.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) did sign a bill in 2022 that would have empowered him to enter into interstate cannabis commerce agreements with other legal states, but that power was incumbent upon federal guidance or an assessment from the state attorney general that sanctioned such activity.
Separately the state legislature is considering a bill that would create a pilot program to test psilocybin for first responders and veterans.
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Philip Steffan provided the photo.
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