There were a few issues that Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t mention during Tuesday’s State of the State address that are of interest to a variety of New Yorkers. Two such issues are the MRTA, the marijuana law, which has created a legal quagmire for some farmers and retailers. The other is AIM (aid and incentives for municipalities) aid, which is the direct financial support that municipalities receive from the state every year. 

Last year, AIM was increased by $50 million for the first time in 15 years. While a good start, state Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a booster of cities like Buffalo, told Capital Tonight that it’s not enough.

“This hasn’t been funded in 15 years. That is adamantly unfair to municipal governments like the Big Five cities (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Yonkers) who do not have the same capacity as New York City to have an income tax to raise their resources,” Peoples-Stokes said. “They are struggling as cities in our state because they generally have lower income people living in them.”

When asked about specific numbers, Peoples-Stokes said she doesn’t negotiate in public but “it would be perfect if we could do $50 million every year” while also indexing the increase to inflation. 

Additionally, Peoples-Stokes is unhappy with how the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has overseen a change in the responsibilities of the chief equity officer.

OCM is the agency that was created to implement the Marihuana Regulation & Taxation Act, which Peoples-Stokes crafted along with state Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger.

“[The office of the chief equity officer] was more of an oversight position as opposed to one that’s an HR position, so I have had conversations with my other lead sponsor in the Senate, Liz Krueger, and we do intend on introducing legislation to have that put back to the way it was originally in the legislation,” Peoples-Stokes told Capital Tonight. 

OCM’s former chief equity officer, Damian Fagon, was the subject of a probe by the state inspector general’s office last year. Allegations that he used targeted enforcement to retaliate against licensees were not proven by the IG’s office. Fagon resigned from his position in November.

Additionally, Peoples-Stokes is worried that, without proper oversight, OCM may be influenced by deep-pocketed players in the marijuana space to the detriment of individual entrepreneurs who are using the law the way it was initially intended: to right the wrongs of the past.

“The fact of the matter is, we need to watch [OCM] as citizens,” she said. “If we don’t maintain the proper oversight of this agency, it will be given to the people who have the most money to constantly attack the governor about things as it relates to their access or lack of access to the industry.”

She’s not the only interested party to express these concerns.

A group of 18 organizations, including the NAACP New York State Conference and VOCAL-NY, wrote a letter to the governor in December expressing concern over “a lack of funding for social and economic equity programs, a series of short-sighted regulatory decisions, and the lack of appropriate OCM leadership.”

“What I’m looking for is someone who is going to legally challenge the OCM to do the job like the legislation was written,” Peoples-Stokes stated.