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Over $20 Billion In Green: Cannabis Is A Lucrative Harvest For Legal Weed States
by Nicolás Jose Rodriguez, Benzinga Staff Writer
June 5, 2024
Since Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize adult-use cannabis sales in 2014, a green wave has swept over the U.S.
This progressive shift has not only transformed social norms but also yieldedsurprising financial benefits for participating states.
A new report by the Marijuana Policy Project reveals that legal cannabis sales have generated a staggering $20 billion in tax revenue combined. This windfall is allowing states to invest in crucial areas like education, public healthand social justice initiatives.
Taxation Strategies And Leaders
States have adopted various tax structures on cannabis sales, creating a spectrum of revenue generation. Washington leads the pack with one of the highest retail tax rates at 37%, translating to significant tax revenue.
However, California reigns supreme in total revenue collected, pulling in a mighty $1.1 billion in 2023 alone. According to the report, this demonstrates that tax rates, like California's 15% excise tax, can be highly lucrative when applied to a robust and well-regulated market.
Investing In The Revenue Windfall
This influx of tax revenue is not gathering dust. States are strategically allocating these funds toward programs that directly benefit their citizens. Coloradohas dedicatedover $746 million to public schools since legalization began.
In Illinois, social equity takes center stage, with25% of cannabis tax revenue directed to programs that uplift communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
Market Maturity And Its Impact
The report also sheds light on the role of market maturity. Established markets like Colorado and Washington experienced initial surges in revenue, followed by recent dips. This can be attributed to factors like out-of-state competition and market saturation.
However, states like Michigan continue to see steady growth, demonstrating the long-term potential of legal cannabis revenue. Michigan, which legalized adult-use cannabis in 2018, has yet to experience the boom-and-bust cycle seen in some established markets.
Throughout 2023, Michigancollected more than $1 billion in adult-use cannabis tax revenue, with consistent year-over-year increases. This steady growth can be attributed in part to Michigan's unique position. Unlike Colorado or Washington, none of its bordering states had legalized adult-use cannabis sales until recently (Illinois in 2020 and Missouri in 2022).
Beyond The Bottom Line: Social Equity And Community Reinvestment
Many states are prioritizing social justice by using cannabis tax revenue to reinvest in communities. Maryland, for example, allocates a significant 35% of its tax revenue to a Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund, which supports initiatives in areas disproportionately affected by past cannabis prohibition.
Similarly, New Jersey channels a substantial 70% of its cannabis tax revenue toward social equity programs.
The Verdict: A Boon For StatesWith Room For Growth
Despite variations in tax rates, market maturityand revenue streams, the Marijuana Policy Project report paints a clear picture: This new industry is generating significant tax dollars,
California no longer sells the most legal weed in America
ByLester Black,Cannabis editor
June 5, 2024
California no longer sells the most legal weed in America (sfgate.com)
California politicians and pot advocates have long bragged that the state is home to the largest legalcannabismarket in the world. Gov. Gavin Newsommadetheclaimtwice in the past two months alone. But newly reported data is calling the Golden State’s weed dominance into question.
Michigan now sells more legal cannabis than California, according to data shared with SFGATE by BDSA, a cannabis analytics firm. Michigan sold 22 million cannabis products in March, while California only sold 21.3 million products, according to the firm. Any individual packaging of cannabis, like flower or a vape pen, counts as a product, but user paraphernalia like rolling papers or pipes does not.
BDSA uses point of sale data to calculate overall product sales in both states. While it’s not clear when exactly Michigan surpassed California, the sales numbers from earlier this year are the first time data has been reported showing a state other than California had sold the most cannabis products in America.
California does still bring in more cannabis cash than any other state. California sold $1 billion worth of cannabis in the first three months of 2024, according tothe latest state sales figures, which were released last week. Michigan sold $786 million worth of pot during the same period, according to that state’scannabis regulator.
The disparity between sales revenue and overall products sold is likely because legal cannabis isremarkably cheap in Michigan, especially in contrast toexpensive California.
Deciding which state has the largest market now comes down to which metric you pay attention to: unit sales or overall revenue, both of which are often cited in measuring the size of a consumer packaged goods market. Regardless of which market is the winner, Michigan’s ability to sell more pot than California, despite having a quarter of the population, demonstrates California’s overall failure to develop its legal market, said Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant and advocate.
“Michigan is unquestionably better at running the legal cannabis market than California,” Jain told SFGATE. “Michigan illustrates the ways that California has squandered the opportunity.”
California’s legal cannabis market is still only capturing a fraction of total potential cannabis sales in the state, with illicit retailersselling billions of dollarsof cannabis outside of the legal market. Cannabis operatorshave blamedthe booming illicit market onhigh cannabis taxesand costly regulations that make legal weed expensive, while weak enforcement against illegal goods has allowed cheap, tax-free pot to be easily purchased throughout the state.
With some consumers still shopping in the illegal market, it’s meant Californiahas earned less tax revenuefrom cannabis legalization than it expected. The first quarter of 2024 sawthe lowest legal sales in nearly four years; falling cannabis sales translates tomore pot business failuresand less government funding.
Michigan stands in stark contrast to this dynamic. That state has forced consumers into the legal market by strong enforcement against illegal sales and imposing one of the lowest cannabis tax rates in the country, according to Jain. As a result, legal cannabis is affordable and convenient for customers.
“In Michigan, blue-collar people can afford cannabis products at a price that is affordable to them and they don’t have to drive hours to do so,” Jain said.
Michigan has also benefited from the fact that its neighbor states do not currently have legal recreational pot sales. That likely attracts out-of-state customers into Michigan’s market, something California does not benefit from as recreational use is legal in Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. But Jain estimated these out-of-state customers contribute only 5% to 10% of the state’s overall sales.
Most Consumers Use Marijuana To Treat Health Issues, But Very Few Call It ‘Medical,’ AMA Study Finds
By Ben Adlin
June 5, 2024
Authors of a new study in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that looked at survey responses from more than 175,000 people say the typical medical–recreational binary may not adequately capture how people say they use marijuana, noting that “while most patients (76.1%) reported using cannabis to manage a health symptom, very few patients identified as medical cannabis users.”
Among people who used marijuana, for instance, 15.6 percent said their use was for strictly medical reasons, while less than a third (31.1 percent) said their use was for both nonmedicalandmedical purposes. But more than three quarters of users “reported using cannabis to manage a range of symptoms” like pain, stress and sleep issues, the study found.
“Less than half the patients who used cannabis reported using it for medical reasons, even though the majority of patients reported cannabis use to manage a health-related symptom,” authors wrote. “Given these discrepant findings, it may be more useful for clinicians to ask patients what symptoms they are using cannabis for rather than relying on patient self-identification as a recreational or medical cannabis user.”
“This aligns with another study that found that this type of cannabis use is clinically underrecognized,” they added, “and without specifically screening for medical cannabis use, clinicians may not ask and patients often do not disclose their use.”
“While a minority of patients reported using cannabis for strictly medical reasons, most of those who reported cannabis use reported using it to manage a specific health symptom.”
The University of California, Los Angeles-based research team looked at records from “a large, university-based [healthcare] system in Los Angeles, California, and encompasses a geographically diverse area” that surveyed its patients during annual wellness visits between January 2021 and May 2023. Of the 175,734 patients screened, 25,278 (17.0 percent) reported using marijuana.
“As one of the first health systems to routinely ask about reasons for cannabis use, including health symptoms managed with cannabis,” the report says, “we provide a crucial point-of-care opportunity for clinicians to understand their patients’ risk for CUD [cannabis use disorder] given the association between reasons for cannabis use and the risk of disordered use.”
Notably, the study concluded that among self-reported marijuana users, more than a third were at moderate to high risk for cannabis use disorder—about 5.8 percent of all patients surveyed.
Of the 17.0 percent of those who said they used marijuana, just over a third 34.7 percent, “had results indicative of moderate to high risk for cannabis use disorder,” the report says.
Risk for CUD was measured through a World Health Organization screening called the Alcohol Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), which was modified by the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Authors of the study further modified the scoring algorithm in “consultation with the ASSIST developers and motivated by a desire to identify patients who were not just frequent users of cannabis but also experiencing health or social consequences as a result of their cannabis use.” Scoring thresholds for low and moderate risk were increased to reflect that goal; specifically, “low risk for CUD was defined as a score of 7 or less (compared with ≤3 in the original scoring algorithm)” and “moderate risk for CUD was defined as a score of 8 to 26 (compared with 4–26 in the original scoring algorithm).”
“The data from this study show that the prevalence of cannabis use and the risk of disordered use were highest among male patients and younger adults,” the study found. “Comparable with findings from a recent study, more than a third of patients were at moderate to high risk for CUD (5.8% of the overall sample). This group could benefit from a primary care clinician-based brief intervention to prevent those at moderate risk for cannabis use disorders from developing more serious CUD and to evaluate and refer high-risk users for possible addiction treatment.”
Clinicians should also “take note that if patients are using cannabis for 4 or more symptoms they might be more likely to be at risk of CUD,” authors wrote, adding, “Despite the commonplace use of cannabis to manage these symptoms, there is little evidence to guide clinicians on how to advise their patients regarding the benefits of cannabis for alleviating these symptoms.”
“Most patients reported that they used cannabis to manage symptoms including stress and pain.”
“Interestingly,” they continued, “while the prevalence of cannabis use was lowest among patients living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, risk for CUD was higher among this group. The influence of neighborhood on health outcomes has been well established; however, the influence of neighborhood on substance use and especially cannabis use is limited or conflicting.”
The study cautions, however, that its sample’s “underrepresentation of patients from the most disadvantaged neighborhoods prevents drawing strong conclusions on the specific links with risk of CUD.”
Overall, in light of “the high rates of cannabis use and medical cannabis use that we found in this large urban health care system, it is essential that health care system implement routine screening of all primary care patients,” thereport, published on Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, advises. “Integrating screening efforts to include information regarding cannabis use for symptom management could help enhance the identification and documentation of medical cannabis usage, particularly in the health care context.”
“While 4,375 patients who reported using cannabis (15.6%) did so for medical reasons only, 21,986 patients (75.7%) reported using cannabis to manage symptoms including pain (9,196 [31.7%]), stress (14,542 [50.2%]), and sleep (16,221 [56.0%]).”
At the state level, most laws still draw a bright line between medical and nonmedical use, with laws commonly requiring a doctor’s recommendation and registration as a medical marijuana patient before someone can access medical cannabis. But in some jurisdictions, that’s slowly changing.
In Delaware, for example, the governor this year signed into law a bill that wouldsignificantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program, including allowing patients over the age of 65 to self-certify for medical cannabis access without the need for a doctor’s recommendation and by removing the list of specific qualifying conditions that patients need to have to gain legal access to the program.
The newly published findings follow a JAMA-published report in April that said there’s no evidence that states’ adoption of laws to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults have led to an increase in youth use of cannabis. That research indicated states’ adoption of recreational marijuana laws (RMLs)had no association with the prevalence of youth cannabis consumption.
“In this repeated cross-sectional study, there was no evidence that RMLs were associated with encouraging youth marijuana use,” it said. “After legalization, there was no evidence of an increase in marijuana use.”
Another JAMA-published study earlier that month that found thatneither legalization nor the opening of retail stores led to increases in youth cannabis use. That study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, concluded that the reforms were actually associated with more young people reportingnotusing marijuana, along with increases in those who say they don’t use alcohol or vape products either.
In March, meanwhile, JAMA published findings that teen use of delta-8 THC, a psychoactive cannabinoid commonly derived from hemp, was higher in states where marijuana was illegal. In states where marijuana remains prohibited,14 percent of high-school seniors said they had used a delta-8 product in the past year, the federally funded research found. Where marijuana was legal, that figure was 7 percent.
Along with the study, JAMA published an editorial about the new findings meant to “assist health professionals in advocating for stronger regulatory oversight of cannabis products.”
In January, separate research appeared in JAMA concluding that safe drug consumption sites“save lives” by reducing risky behaviors and overdose deaths.
Tester vs. Sheehy: Montana's Senate race is set
June 5, 2024
In Montana Senate race, it's Jon Tester vs Tim Sheehy (billingsgazette.com)
The nominees are set in one of the most momentous political contests in the nation.
Tuesday night’s primary election results confirmed what most people expected: The battle for Montana’s coveted Senate seat will be between Republican Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Belgrade business owner, and Democrat Jon Tester, the Big Sandy farmer who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2007.
The Associated Press declared Tester and Sheehy the winners after polls closed Tuesday evening. Vote counts are still coming in, but Sheehy is currently leading in his primary with 73% of the vote to 19% for Brad Johnson and 7% for Charles Walking Child as of 10:40 p.m.
Sheehy, at his watch party in Gallatin Gateway surrounded by his gaggle of children looking out at an ecstatic crowd, said the reason he's running is for his kids and others like them.
"We're doing it for the kids, because we cannot hand our children a bankrupt nation. We cannot hand them a nation that no longer loves itself. We cannot hand them a nation for the wide-open border on the precipice of World War Three. We have to hand them a strong America. We have to hand them America they can have hope in. We have to hand them America that they can be proud of, and that's why we're doing this," he said to the crowd after the race was called.
This year is the first time Tester's name is on the ballot in a presidential election cycle. In his last election, primary turnout reached 41%; it was 54% in 2020 in a primary mostly held by mail because of the pandemic.
Tester is one of two Democrats running for reelection in states that Donald Trump won in 2020. All eyes are on Montana, as it's predicted that the winner of the U.S. Senate race is likely to be one of the main determining factors in which party has control of the chamber, where Democrats currently hold a slim majority.
Tester’s supporters held a watch party in Bozeman on Tuesday night. He received 97% of the vote, pulling down 3,709 more votes than President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. Tester briefly addressed a crowd of supporters in Bozeman via livestream from D.C, but the video feed quality was not good so the campaign did not share those remarks.
“Jon Tester has always put Montanans first and has delivered results to support hardworking families across his state," Senate Majority PAC President JB Poersch said in a statement following the results. "That’s exactly why come November, voters will reject McConnell’s fake cowboy and re-elect Montana-first Senator Jon Tester.”
Tester’s reelection battles havebroken fundraising and expenditure records, and this one will continue that trend: Those involved believe that the combined expenditures from the two candidates and the groups aligned with them will eclipse $200 million.
Already the race has eclipsed financial recordsset first in 2018, when the race between Tester and now-U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale was the most expensive in state history. Tester has already brought in $37 million, outpacing his total six years ago of $20.9 million. Sheehy’s $10.5 million to date is almost double what Rosendale hauled in.
The group Open Secrets, which tracks money in elections,tallies more than $13.7 million in outside spending already, in addition to $25.2 million from Tester and $8.2 million from Sheehy.
While the party’s nominees were just set, this race was already being fought like a general election contest, with Tester and Sheehy filling the airwaves with ads attacking each other.
That said, throughout 2023 and into this year, it was believed that Sheehy would face a much tougher primary challenge as Rep. Matt Rosendalerepeatedly teased a bid for the Senate.Rosendale did jump into the race in February, but hiscandidacy only lasted a couple days. Following intense pressure to drop out,nasty unsubstantiated rumors swirling about his personal lifeand thenews that Donald Trump endorsed Sheehy,Rosendale bowed out.
Sheehy also has the endorsem*nts of Gov. Greg Gianforte, Rep. Ryan Zinke, Sen. Steve Daines and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, one of the groups responsible for bringing a Republican majority back to the Senate.
“The clearest path to a Republican Senate majority runs through Montana," Daines said in a statement following the results. "Tim Sheehy will deliver a Senate majority for President Trump, Jon Tester wants to deliver a Senate majority for Joe Biden. That is the choice in this election. President Trump is counting on Montana to elect Tim Sheehy.”
One Sheehy supporter at the event was so ecstatic about the Republican candidate that she pulled him by his arm over to the reporter with the Montana State News Bureau, insisting that Sheehy chat with the press.
Since Sheehy joined the race, the first-time political candidate has faced a slew of bad headlines, including carpetbagging criticism,half-truths about who is receiving the proceeds from his bookandrevelations that he lied about a gunshot wound.
Over the last few months, the Montana GOP, particularly chairman Don "K" Kaltschmidt and Zinke, hascontinually urged unity among the party in an effort to deliver a victory in the U.S. Senate contest. For Sheehy to win, it is commonly believed that he will need to garner support from as many Republicans as possible, whileTester has eked out victories in the past by getting votes from ticket-splitting Republicans.
As he has in past races, Tester must thread an ever-shrinking eye of the needle in astate that has become increasingly red in past election cycles. In his first two elections to the Senate, he didn’t capture more than 50% of the vote and his nearly 18,000-vote win in 2018 was his largest ever.
Tester’s campaign already has doubled down on examples of the incumbent parting from his party’s leadership, especially on immigration and the southern border. The senator also recently started running ads emphasizing his work on veterans issues, a hallmark of his time in the Senate. On the attack side, Tester’s camp is working to paint Sheehy as an untrustworthy carpetbagger who’s too rich to understand everyday Montanans.
Going into the summer, Tester’s campaign has a huge cash advantage on Sheehy. As of the latest financial report, which was filed in mid-May, the Tester camp has over five times more cash in the bank: $11.7 million versus Sheehy’s $2.2 million in the bank. Nearly $400,000 of that $2 million sum, however, the Sheehy campaign is unable to spend as it is earmarked for a recount.
"At this point, I don't need your money anymore. I don't want your money. I need your effort. I need you to talk to people. I need you to remind people that we need to care about what happens this fall," Sheehy said Tuesday. "We need to care about the future of America."
The two nominees already have adebate set for the this Sunday, June 9 in Anaconda. It is not open to the public, but will be televised live and tape-delayed on multiple TV channels and radio stations across the state.
Third-party candidates have played a role in Tester’s past races. Michael Downey had 59% of the vote just before 11 p.m. to 41% for Robert Barb in that party's primary. Libertarian Sid Daud is also running. Green Party candidates are typically seen as drawing votes away from Democrats while Libertarians can siphon off Republican votes.
Downing, Driscoll to square off in eastern congressional district
June 5, 20224
Downing tops Republican field in Montana eastern House race (billingsgazette.com)
BILLINGS — Troy Downing beat out a packed Republican primary field seeking to fill Montana’s eastern U.S. House seat, The Associated Press said Tuesday night.
He had 35,371 votes, for 36% of the final tally.
The district is open as incumbent Republican Rep. Matt Rosendaledecided to not seek re-electionafter a tumultuous spring in which he firstdeclared a long-anticipated bid for U.S. Senate, only toquickly withdraw from that raceafter strong opposition from party leaders andformer President Donald Trump endorsing his opponent. Rosendale thenlaunched a re-election bid, but thatended amidst a nasty rumor and what the congressman said were death threats.
While the Montana political world was gearing up for a hotly contested Republican Senate primary to pick the candidate to attempt to unseat incumbent Democrat Jon Tester, the eastern House contest was thesleeper race with eight candidates running in the massive districtthat includes the entire eastern half of the state as well as much of central Montana including Great Falls and Helena.
The region is deeply red —Rosendale took 56% of the vote two years ago— and whoever wins the Republican primary will be the likely victor in November’s general election. With nine names technically before voters after one candidate withdrew after ballots were finalized, the winner could have needed as little as 12% of the vote to advance if those running split the electorate evenly.
Trailing Downing wasDenny Rehberg with 16,718, Stacy Zinn with 13,329 votes and then Elsie Arntzen with 9,205. Ken Bogner received 8,773 votes for 9%, Ric Holden 6,972 for 7%, Joel Krautter 3,296 for 3%, and Kyle Austin 3,092 for 3%.
On the Democratic side, the Associated Press called the race for John Driscoll shortly before midnight.
He finished with 12,968 votes, for 34%, over Steve Held with 10,171 for 26%, Ming Cabrera 8,158 for 21% and Kevin Hamm with 7,305 and 19%.
Driscoll will face an uphill battle in the general. He had previously run for the at-large seat back in 2008, and has before been a candidate for various offices running as both a Democrat and Republican. He has served in the Montana National Guard and previously was in the state Legislature. Driscoll did not report breaking the $5,000 threshold on his campaign that would require reporting to the Federal Election Commission.
Downing on the eve of the election received a last-minute endorsem*nt from Trump. By the time the announcement came, about 25% of eligible voters had already cast their ballots.
In his victory speech Tuesday, Downing thanked the president for his endorsem*nt.
"He called me yesterday and endorsed me and I gotta tell you getting a call from the president is something that you don't forget," Downing told his supporters.
In an interview, Downing cited his background and performance in the state Auditor's office as what helped him stand out from the crowded field.
If he wins the general election, Downing said he would focus on some of the same issues that Rosendale did in Congress but not take the same approach.
"A lot of the stuff that Rosendale was fighting for I believe are big problems in this country— lack of fiscal constraint, overspending, I think a lot of the issues were issues that I share. His tactics I don't believe in. Government has to work. You have to show up and it has to work. I think one of the problems that we have with some folks right now is they go into a game thinking you can win it just throwing 100-yard passes. Hail Marys don't win games. You have to move it in two-, three-yard plays, just get it down the field in the right direction."
Rosendale’s tenure in office was marked by his allegiance with the far-right wing of the party. He played a notable role in the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, declining a telephone call from Trump in a highly publicized incident. Rosendale was often among a handful or so of Republicans splintering from the party on things like voting against issuing Congressional Gold Medals to officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, opposing intervention in Ukraine and voting against making Juneteenth a federal holiday. He hasalso peddled COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
While Rosendale was entertaining his will-he, won’t-he for the Senate race, prominent Republicans in the state includingArntzenandDowningsaid they were poised to run for the congressional district if the seat would be open and made it official in late winter.
With Rosendale officially out of the race, candidates poured in, creating the crowded primary voters were faced with Tuesday.
“It encourages more and more people to enter because the winner doesn't even need that many votes to win,” said Professor Jeremy Johnson, chair of the political science department at Carroll College.
Rehberg, who represented the state’s at-large district from 2001-2013,joined the race in Februarywhen the field was already packed. During his tenure in the House, he was considered deeply conservative.
Downing is the state auditor, as was current office-holder Rosendale. Downing also ran in a four-way primary for Montana’s U.S. Senate seat in 2018, a race Rosendale won. Before entering politics, Downing was a businessman from Big Sky who spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force as an aviator and flight engineer. He amassed his wealth from startup technology companies and through investing in commercial real estate, including self storage.
As auditor, Downing focused on reforming the practices of pharmacy benefit managers, as well as reigning in multi-level marketing operations.
Arntzen and Rehberg have long been fixtures in state GOP politics. Zinn is a former Drug Enforcement Agency official.
The outgoing superintendent of public instruction, Arntzen was previously a legislator from Billings. Her tenure at the head of the state’s education agency was tumultuous, marked by high staff turnover andvocal dissent from educators around the state.
Rehberg, who toldPolitico in Februaryhe was interested in the race after seeing polling showing he had a shot, was making his return to politics after a failed Senate bid in 2012 against Tester. A former goat rancher, Rehberg operated fast food restaurants and worked for a D.C. public affairs outfit after leaving Congress.
Several other Republicans hoped to play spoiler to the other candidates with greater name recognition. That included state Sen. Ken Bogner, and former state lawmakers Joel Krautter and Ric Holden, as well as pharmacist Kyle Austin and Zinn. Though former state legislator Ed Walker ended his candidacy, his name still appeared on ballots.
Self-financing played a large role in candidates’ effortsto get their name in front of voters. While Downing reported raising about $1.8 million, $900,000 of that came from his own pocket. More than 86% of Arntzen’s $871,444 haul was her own cash, and three-quarters of Rehberg’s $601,991 was from the candidate. Zinn only raised $41,460.
The top three candidates vied to spotlight their support of Trump, and both Arntzen and Rehberg aimed to capitalize on comments Downing made prior to his 2018 bid in the GOP Senate primary that were critical of the former president, including when he tweeted back in 2016 that Trump was "either a liar or an idiot."
Ultimately, most of the candidates had similar stances on the issues.
“They're all talking about the same issues,” Johnson said. “From a practical standpoint, they're all sort of reflecting the nationalization of politics,” Johnson added, with the exception of Joel Krautter, who has positioned himself as the anti-Trumper in the contest.
Because of the similarity in most of the candidates’ platforms, Johnson believes this race was largely decided by name recognition and the efficacy of their advertisem*nts.
Fundraiser started to help defend Montana FWP fisheries chief
June 4, 2024
Supporters set up GoFundMe for Montana FWP fisheries chief (billingsgazette.com)
More than 100 donations have been made to an onlineGoFundMe accountset up to help Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Fisheries Division chiefEileen Rycepay legal bills related to her being placed on administrative leave on May 17.
The page was established to raise $10,000. So far, almost $8,000 has been contributed. Many of the donations have come from former FWP personnel.
Because the issue is a personnel matter, FWP officials will not comment on the reason behind Ryce’s removal or how long it might last.
“The length of the leave is based on the situation, there isn’t a minimum or maximum spelled out in policy,” said Greg Lemon, Communications & Education Division administrator in an email. He added the length of leave depends on the situation.
Jay Pravecek, hatchery section chief, is acting as Fisheries Division administrator in Ryce's absence. Ryce has not returned requests for comment.
According to a state ofMontana discipline guidebook, administrative leave is not a disciplinary action.
“It’s a tool that allows managers to conduct a thorough and orderly investigation. The investigation may result in a disciplinary action, but that action is separate from the administrative leave,” the handbook noted.
Chris Hunter, who hired Ryce to the agency in 2004 when he was still FWP’s Fisheries Division chief, is the benefactor of theGoFundMe accountbecause the money can’t go directly to the beneficiary.
“When all this went down that Friday afternoon I heard about it, and right away people started talking about doing a GoFundMe,” Hunter said. “It’s absolutely ludicrous that they can do this and then she has to try and defend herself at her own expense.”
Ryce is just the latest of FWP leaders to be placed on leave. Last year the agency’s chief of operations, Mike Volesky, was placed on paid leave in October and remains absent even though a citation for hunting without permission issued to Volesky was dropped. In 2022, FWP removed the Enforcement Division chief Dave Loewen from office via administrative leave before he agreed to a settlement and left the agency.
Ryce became fisheries chief in 2016, moving over from leading the Hatchery Bureau.
Since FWP officials placed Ryce on leave, speculation has been rampant about possible reasons. The fact that fisheries issues generate controversy between opposing interest groups only adds fuel to such claims.
On the date Ryce was removed, Hunter said he was told an employee from FWP Director Dustin Temple’s office told Ryce her computer was being shut down and they were going to escort her out of the building, “like she’s a terrorist or something.”
“That’s their mode of operation, intimidation and humiliation,” Hunter added. “One of her bureau chiefs was going to have a retirement party that afternoon.”
According to the state’s discipline guide, employees are supposed to be given written notice regarding the reason for the action and provided an opportunity to respond.
The handbook noted, “Administrative leave can serve any of several purposes: preserving evidence; interviewing others without interference or intimidation; a ‘cooling off’ period when the conduct has been threatening or disruptive; protecting clients or other employees from harm.”
Although on leave, employees are still “on duty” during their regular shift and are required to be available for interviews and “other activities associated with the investigation.”
Disciplinary actions may include a written warning, suspension without pay or a demotion. State employees must first exhaust the grievance process before filing awrongful discharge lawsuit, which must be initiated within one year of the date of discharge.
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