The lawsuit filed by Variscite in September 2022 challenged how New York issued licenses for recreational cannabis dispensaries. That challenge resulted in a temporary injunction by a federal judge in November that prevented licenses from being granted in Brooklyn, Central New York, the Finger Lakes region, the Mid-Hudson region and Western New York.

In March, a ruling from the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals lifted that injunction except for the Finger Lakes region.

General Counsel Linda Baldwin informed the Control Board that if approved by a federal judge, the settlement would end a court injunction preventing the state from granting Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses to businesses in the Finger Lakes region, “The board has seen the confidential settlement agreement which will be filed later this week, which at that time will become public. But, one of the conditions of the settlement was to grant the plaintiff in that case, the one that had applied for a CAURD license, an adult use licence when those licenses become available. And those were terms we could agree upon in order to move forward with the full CAURD program.”

According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, the settlement would allow the OCM to fully launch the CAURD licensing program, but the state is also litigating a lawsuit filed by a coalition that includes some of New York’s medical cannabis companies. Plaintiffs in that case are asking a judge to compel state regulators to open up licensing for all retail dispensary applicants immediately.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit modified an injunction that now “bars the issuance of conditional adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses only in the Finger Lakes Region.” Western New York, Central New York, Brooklyn, and the Mid-Hudson are no longer part of the injunction.

The case, Variscite NY One v. State of New York, had been holding up the New York State Office of Cannabis Management‘s CAURD or conditional adult-use retail dispensary program from rolling out statewide.

Variscite claimed the application process approved by the Office of Cannabis Management was unconstitutional and that their application was rejected because one of their principal applicant partners was convicted of a marijuana-related crime outside of New York State.

Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement, “New York’s brand-new cannabis industry is making significant progress to promote social equity and right the wrongs of the past, creating the fairest and safest market in the nation.” She added, “For the first time, New Yorkers in nearly every region of the state will have access to safer, high-quality, adult-use cannabis products. I am committed to ensuring New York continues to lead the nation in our safe and equitable approach to the cannabis market.”

Western New York is set to receive 22 CAURD dispensaries as of March 3, when the state doubled the total number of locations statewide from 150 to 300.

Section of New York State Thruway on the Cattaraugus Reservation (Google Maps)

The Seneca Nation of Indians have won a significant victory over New York State in federal Court.

Native News Online reports the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Seneca Nation when it rejected the state’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Tribe in 2018. The lawsuit alleged ongoing violations of federal law related to the continued occupation of the New York State Thruway on the Nation’s Cattaraugus Territory.

At issue is a three-mile stretch of highway on I-90 that goes through the Seneca Reservation.
The Court’s decision upholds a 2020 United States District Court decision that denied the State’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Tribal leaders contend the basis for the case originated in 1954 when the Seneca Nation was pressured to grant an easement for a thruway to be constructed over about 300 acres of its Cattaraugus Reservation.

Land easements on Indian Reservations require federal approval to be deemed valid, but New York State did not take action to get approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior to construct the thruway at the time.

The Tribe wants the Thruway Authority to seek a valid easement so that the Tribe can be compensated for motorists who drive on the portion of the freeway that goes through tribal land.

The Thruway Authority currently operates a toll station on tribal land and the Tribe is seeking to have the station closed.

United States Supreme Court Building

Reuters reports the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by four states, including New York, to hear a case on the limit to state and local tax deductions.

The justices turned away an appeal by New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey after a lower court threw out their lawsuit. The lower court held that the U.S. Congress had broad authority over taxes and did not violate the U.S. Constitution by placing a $10,000 limit on the amount of state and local taxes that individuals may deduct on federal income tax returns.

President Joe Biden‘s administration opposed the four states.

The deduction limit, known as the SALT cap, was part of a Republican-backed federal tax law signed by former President Donald Trump in 2017 that slashed the corporate tax rate and implemented an income tax cut for individuals, which tax policy experts said benefited wealthy Americans the most.

Democrats had opposed the law, which was expected to reduce federal revenues by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Capping the deduction disproportionately affects high-tax, often Democratic-leaning states, with New York estimating its taxpayers would pay $121 billion of extra federal taxes from 2018 to 2025.
The four states sued Trump’s administration in 2018, calling the cap an unconstitutional attempt to interfere with states’ taxing power and coerce Democratic-leaning states to cut taxes and the services they pay for.

The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year rejected the states’ arguments, ruling that they did not show that their injuries were significant enough to give rise to a constitutional violation.
Most of the 2017 law’s individual tax provisions, including the SALT cap, expire after 2025.

Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement, “Four years ago, former President Trump and a Republican controlled Congress launched an economic attack on New Yorkers. Their tax plan handed major giveaways to big corporations, while raising taxes on middle-class families here in New York… Leaders in the White House and Congress have the power to undo the damage caused by the Republican tax plan and restore the full SALT deduction to help middle-class New Yorkers. With costs rising and New Yorkers hurting, I urge our leaders in Washington to address this critical economic issue as quickly as possible.”