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Marijuana tax could help fund MTA

Governor, New York City's mayor want portion of the tax to fund NYC's subways

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Part of looking into whether New York should legalize recreational marijuana will be deciding where all of that tax revenue will go. 

Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have an idea for some of that money, which at least one lawmaker from Western New York isn't sold on yet.

"We are looking to ensure that adult use of cannabis is approved and that some of the resources that are garnered from the taxation and the regulation process of it are spent in communities that have been heavily most negatively impacted by the mass incarceration," Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said.

Nothing official has been worked out yet, but Cuomo and de Blasio have a plan to fix and fund the MTA, which runs New York City's subways. That plan includes using a percentage of the tax revenue from cannabis sales to fund the MTA.

RELATED: The Great 'Gateway' Debate

"When people from Western New York are hearing that that's the case, a lot of them are not pleased with that," 2 On Your Side's Kelly Dudzik said.

"I don't think people should necessarily believe everything they hear. I understand the value of MTA and transporting literally thousands, millions of people on a daily basis to get back and forth to work," Peoples-Stokes said. "Similarly, if people can't get to work in Western New York, or in Albany, or in Rochester, then they can't invest in our economies either.

"So I think if there are opportunities to invest in MTA there will be opportunities to invest in NFTA as well." 

This is all part of the budget negotiation process, and Peoples-Stokes plays a key role. She's been working on the marijuana tax and regulation act for the last six years.

"I'm not going to get to the final goal line and have it moved in the interest of something that doesn't value the people who have suffered the most from mass incarceration. I didn't start out that way and it's not gonna end that way," she says.

The Governor's plan doesn't say what percentage of the cannabis tax revenue would go to the MTA. The budget deadline is March 31.

RELATED: Questions remain over legal recreational marijuana across New York

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