October 9, 2020 at 9:03 pm

The committee formed to pass Measure X, a countywide ballot proposal that would levy taxes on certain cannabis businesses, received $50,000 on Thursday from the Heising-Simons Foundation. The organization is based in Los Altos and San Francisco.

The foundation supports a variety of causes including early childhood education, particularly for minority and low-income children. Part of the revenue from Measure X would go towards funding those types of programs.

The measure would establish a 3.5% sales tax for all cannabis businesses in unincorporated areas of San Joaquin County, with an additional $2 per square foot for cultivation businesses. Half of the funds would be directed to the County Children’s Trust Fund for literacy, drug prevention, after-school, home visitation, and other programs for underserved youth.

The other half would go towards enforcing existing cannabis laws, public health services, and homeless mitigation. Annual revenue for the tax has not yet been estimated by the county.

The exact same measure was on the ballot two years ago as Measure B. Just like this year’s, it required ⅔ of the vote to pass, but only garnered 61.5%. Things might go differently this year, as government budgets on the county, state, and federal revenue are facing some significant revenue decreases due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Measure X committee had almost $37,000 on hand on September 19. The $50,000 from the Heising-Simons Foundation is still significant for a committee that only had $100 in donations from July 1 to September 19.

The foundation has fairly deep pockets, having given more than $618 million since its first grant in 2007, including $113 in 2019 alone.