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New from CommonWealth Beacon TARIFF SOLIDARITY: Five northeast US governors and six Canadian premiers and ministers grappling with tariffs have pledged to work together. Gintautas Dumcius has more.  OPINION: When the MBTA moves to electrify its buses, the agency should make its bus garages into “energy hubs” that could power the grid, argues Seth Kaplan, an energy policy consultant who formerly worked at the Conservation Law Foundation.

Deep divide: The cannabis industry remains split over how many dispensaries a single business should own  June 18, 2025 By BHaamati borkhetaria The Massachusetts House unanimously passed a wide-ranging cannabis bill on June 4 that would allow a single business to own double the number of dispensaries currently allowed by law. But the cannabis industry remains deeply divided on the policy change.  In 2017, the legislature capped the number of retail cannabis stores owned by a single entity at three. The intention was to keep bigger companies – particularly those that operate in multiple states – from buying up large swaths of the state’s cannabis market and make it harder for smaller companies or single owners to compete.  The new cannabis bill would raise the cap to six, allowing cannabis operators to purchase an additional license each year until they hit the cap. It would also allow a single entity to own up 35 percent equity in an unlimited number of cannabis businesses (up from 10 percent) before the ownership stake counts towards the cap.   Increasing the cap has been pitched as a way to create more opportunities for bigger companies to buy struggling cannabis stores and thereby provide an exit ramp for failing cannabis businesses that want to sell. But there has been opposition to this change from business owners, non-profit leaders, and even a current commissioner on the Cannabis Control Commission who warn that raising the cap presents a dire threat to locally-owned and social-equity operated businesses.   In April, nearly 60 business leaders and advocates in the cannabis industry signed a letter urging legislators to continue to cap the number of dispensaries any business can own at three. They argued that strong ownership limits in the state are key to fostering a competitive and diverse industry that has a place for social equity business owners.   “It's going to create pretty catastrophic market conditions for independent small businesses who don't want to give up some of their…ownership control over to multi-state operators,” said Kevin Gilnack, deputy director of the cannabis advocacy group Equitable Opportunities Now. “And it's going to undermine the Legislature's goal of empowering communities harmed by the war on drugs.”  READ MORE

More Context House cannabis bill targets intoxicating hemp edibles, but critics warn enforcement gaps will remain (June 2025) Cannabis commission remains short-handed as the agency works on social consumption and other pressing issues (June 2025) Cannabis commission, elected leaders out of sync on budget ask (May 2025)

More from CommonWealth Beacon BUDGET BREAKDOWN: CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks to Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, about the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget for the Codcast.   TAX-AND-SPEND ACCORD: House and Senate lawmakers agreed to compromise on a spending plan that uses more than $1.3 billion in surplus revenue from the millionaires tax. Colin Young at State House News Service has more.   TRY TWO: The clock is ticking on Milton’s second chance for compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. The planning board and residents are still divided heading into a special town meeting on Monday. Jennifer Smith has more.

What We're Reading THIRD PARTY: Dan Kennedy argues that a third-party alternative to Democrats and Republicans is a fantasy unless there are major changes to how elections are held in the country. (Media Nation)  BEACHES: South Boston has the cleanest urban beaches around the Boston Harbor according to an annual water quality report card from the nonprofit Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. Pleasure Bay and City Point got perfect cleanliness scores. (WBUR)  ARTS AT RISK: Boston arts organizations are sounding the alarm after the Trump administration called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts – the largest funder of the arts in the country. (Boston Business Journal – paywall)  CUTS: Brookline’s school district has significantly slashed professional development funding for its teachers following a roughly $8 million budget deficit ahead of fiscal year 2026. A Brookline-based nonprofit Brookline Education Foundation is looking to fill the gap. (Brookline News)  WHITE STADIUM: The NAACP Boston Branch is calling on the city to pause the demolition on White Stadium, citing that the project will displace students in Boston Public Schools from the facility and negatively impact parking and traffic. Branch members criticized the process that led to the city’s decision to lease the stadium to a professional team for a lack of transparency. (The Flipside)

The Codcast: Doug Howgate discusses key takeaways of the Massachusetts 2026 state budget Senior Reporter Jennifer Smith talks to Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, about the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget. They break down differences between the House and Senate plans, discuss why some parts of the process always happen behind closed doors, and consider the future of the wealth surcharge split between education and transportation. LISTEN NOW

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