Cliff Bentz: “In response to this bill helping farmers, I just want to say it does not. What it does is it puts a tax on top of their…”

“In response to this bill helping farmers, I just want to say it does not. What it does is it puts a tax on top of their product. When added to the Oregon tax, it would be almost 30 percent. That does not encourage farmers to raise the crop because they can't compete against the black market. There has to be far more thought given to what will be an 8 percent additional cost. By the way, it is a gross receipts tax. It is on top of the gross receipts, not that net profit that you are supposed to get. Secondly, the bill, as written, fails to distinguish between hemp and marijuana. This must be done if the folks in each space are going to grow properly. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”