Prop CB

Why Thrive LA supports Prop CB

Measure CB extends the City of Los Angeles's existing cannabis business tax to unlicensed (illegal) cannabis operations. Licensed cannabis businesses already pay city taxes ranging from 1% to 10% depending on the type of activity. Illegal storefronts pay nothing. This measure closes that loophole by applying the same rates to unlicensed operators, with revenue flowing to the city's general fund for services like 911 response, fire protection, street repairs, and parks. Let's be clear about why this matters. Los Angeles has an estimated 500 to 1,000 illegal cannabis storefronts operating openly, undercutting the licensed businesses that play by the rules, pay taxes, and submit to regulatory oversight. Licensed operators face a massive competitive disadvantage. Illegal shops avoid taxes, skip testing requirements, sell unregulated products, and pocket the savings. Measure CB gives the city an additional enforcement tool: the ability to pursue unlicensed operators for tax evasion, adding legal consequences on top of existing (and clearly insufficient) shutdown efforts. Thrive LA generally opposes new taxes. Every tax reduces economic activity. But this measure is unusual. It does not impose a new burden on any legal, tax-paying business. It extends an existing obligation to operators who are already breaking the law. The practical question is whether the city can actually collect. If an illegal storefront ignores licensing requirements, will it voluntarily pay taxes? Probably not. But the measure creates a paper trail of liability that strengthens enforcement actions, including asset seizure and criminal prosecution. That is a tool worth having. The honest concern is context. Measure CB arrives alongside a wave of proposed revenue grabs: hotel tax hikes, parking tax increases, ticket surcharges, ride-share fees, vacancy taxes, and retail delivery fees. The city faces a nearly $1 billion deficit driven by overspending and rising liability payouts, and the instinct at City Hall is to tax its way out rather than cut. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was right to object that the city is asking for more revenue without demonstrating meaningful cost control. We share that concern. But the alternative here is not "no tax." The alternative is that illegal operators continue to pay nothing while legal businesses shoulder the full burden. That is not a market outcome worth defending. Measure CB is a narrow, targeted enforcement tool that levels the playing field for law-abiding cannabis businesses. Vote yes.