Tax-Repeal Talk After John James / MiCIA Sep 16: Who Said What

Wednesday a trade group called John James the clear choice. Thursday morning a Detroit ticket still printed 10% and 6%.

I grow sun-grown organic flower for Divine Toke outside Detroit. I read a Lansing quote the way I read a frost date: what they said, and what still hits the jar. This is who said what on September 16 and 17. It's not tax advice or legal advice. You decide who sounds right.

Primary question this post answers: what John James and the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association actually said about repealing Michigan's 24% wholesale cannabis tax on September 16, 2026.

If you want the cash print, use our Q2 $37.38 million piece. If you want the origin of the 24% layer, use the May explainer. This one is the Wednesday talk.

What Did John James and MiCIA Actually Say on September 16? #

On September 16, 2026, the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association endorsed John James for governor and tied that nod to his written pledge to "repeal or sharply reduce" the 24% wholesale cannabis tax. Marijuana Moment reported the group's Wednesday press release. MiCIA's September 16 release is the official page.

James is the Republican nominee. The group uses MiCIA on its own site. Older Detroit copy often writes MCIA. Same group, different letters.

Wednesday, in order:

• MiCIA said James is "the clear choice for the cannabis industry."
• James, on his Freedom Agenda page, said he will "work to repeal or sharply reduce" the 24% wholesale tax.
• Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee, had already called the same tax a "new and emerging issue" and asked for more data. That quote is from Bridge Michigan on September 9, not from a September 16 reply.
• Treasury is still collecting the tax. An endorsement isn't a cheaper eighth.

Marijuana Moment's September 17 newsletter recapped the same endorsement. It didn't add a new James quote or a new Benson quote.

The exact James lines MiCIA pointed at #

James's own page says the 24% "drives up prices, gives illegal operators a competitive edge, and has already fallen far short of revenue projections," and then: "As Governor, I will work to repeal or sharply reduce it." That's the Freedom Agenda cannabis plank. Marijuana Moment quoted those two sentences in the September 16 story.

Read the verbs. He did not say the tax is already gone. He said he will work to repeal or sharply reduce it if he is governor. A cut and a kill are different bills.

The same plank names the stack a Detroit shopper already feels in the sticker:

• 24% wholesale (the new layer)
• 10% adult-use excise (the old voter tax)
• 6% state sales tax

Treasury still describes that 24% as live as of this writing. MCL 333.27963 still sets the 10% at the counter.

Marijuana Moment on August 21 had already printed the same Freedom Agenda lines when James rolled the plank out. September 16 is the industry nod, not the first time he said it.

The exact Schneider lines from the Wednesday release #

Robin Schneider, MiCIA executive director, is the named voice on the Wednesday release. Marijuana Moment printed these lines. I'm laying them out in the order that story ran.

Who	Line (as printed Sep 16)	What it is
Robin Schneider, MiCIA	"John James is the clear choice for the cannabis industry."	Endorsement sentence
Schneider	"John has taken the time to meet with MiCIA members to better understand the serious financial challenges we face due to the unconstitutional 24 percent cannabis tax established last year."	Meeting + the group's court word, "unconstitutional"
Schneider	"He has released clear statements about this stance on cannabis, and he has been fully transparent." / "We welcome his vocal and committed support of our industry."	Points at the written plank
Schneider	The industry "which has been an economic driver for Michigan, now faces a devastating financial reality."	Harm claim
Schneider	"We need a leader who will boldly support the cannabis industry and fight for our workers and our businesses."	Ask for a governor who backs the trade
Schneider	"John understands that the unlawful 24 percent tax pushes customers to the illicit market, and he has vowed to repeal or sharply reduce the tax."	Repeats James's own "repeal or sharply reduce" pair
John James (campaign page)	Will "work to repeal or sharply reduce" the 24%. Says it "drives up prices" and "gives illegal operators a competitive edge."	The pledge MiCIA is citing

Two words in that table are the group's, not a court's last word: unconstitutional and unlawful. MiCIA is in court. Collection is still on. The last court line I can source is still July.

Bridge Michigan had already reported, a week earlier, that Schneider attended a July fundraiser hosted by JARS Cannabis executives, that the group donated $1,000, and that Schneider told Bridge the James campaign "made it clear that they support us." That's September 9 reporting, a week before the nod.

What was already on the record before Wednesday #

The September 16 nod didn't invent James's tax sentence. Marijuana Moment on August 21 printed the Freedom Agenda lines when the plank went public. Bridge on September 9 then mapped the July room that came first.

The earlier record, with names on it:

• July fundraiser. Bridge said executives of the JARS Cannabis chain hosted it. About 100 people came, by attendee Tim Beck's count. State disclosures showed nearly $90,000.
• Beck, in the room. "He was clear as a bell: He wants to get rid of that 24% tax."
• Schneider, to Bridge. "They're operating on a wish and a prayer right now." And: "We didn't do anything." / "They made it clear that they support us."
• The cash argument James is using. Bridge said House Fiscal Agency had projected $420 million a year, and state budget officials reported $73.4 million in the first six months. That $73.4 million is the same year-to-date pile WJR rounded next to the $37.38 million Q2 label.

Wednesday is the endorsement. July and August are the trail that led there.

What Did Jocelyn Benson Say About the Same Tax? #

Benson hasn't taken a yes-or-no position on killing the 24%. Bridge Michigan asked her at a campaign stop the Tuesday before that story ran. Marijuana Moment repeated those lines in the September 16 write-up. I don't have a sourced Benson quote that answers the Wednesday endorsement itself.

Bridge printed:

• The tax is a "new and emerging issue."
• "There's a lot of data yet to be determined on that particular tax … we need to know where the money is going and also the impact that it's had on the industry."
• "At the same time, I want to make sure that any changes we are making to our tax code do not come at the expense of driving up costs for Michiganders."

She's waiting on data. She didn't say repeal it, and she didn't say keep it forever. She named two checks: where the cash goes, and what the tax did to the trade. She also named a limit: don't raise costs for people in Michigan while you rewrite the code.

Bridge also reported that Schneider said MiCIA "repeatedly" reached out to Benson and hadn't heard back, and that the group had backed Chris Swanson in the Democratic primary after Swanson pledged a repeal. That's what Bridge printed. I don't have a later Benson reply to Schneider.

Same calendar day as the endorsement, both nominees spoke to the Detroit Economic Club. Benson was at Motor City Casino. James joined on Zoom from Washington. Michigan Public wrote up tariffs, data centers, health care, and how they would run the state. That story has no cannabis-tax exchange, so I'm leaving the cannabis tax out of that room.

Voice	Date	Position on the 24% (as sourced)
John James	Freedom Agenda; cited again Sep 16	Will work to repeal or sharply reduce it
Robin Schneider / MiCIA	Sep 16 release	Endorses James; calls the tax unconstitutional / unlawful
Jocelyn Benson	Early September, via Bridge and MM	New issue; wants data on money and industry impact; watch consumer costs
Whitmer, Hall, Brinks	Sep 16–17	No sourced reply to the endorsement in the reporting I used

If a later statement landed after September 17, it's not in this post. The date on this piece is the cutoff.

Is Michigan's 24% Wholesale Tax Repealed After That Talk? #

No. As of September 17, 2026, Michigan Treasury is still administering the 24% wholesale tax, and neither repeal bill has become law. Treasury's wholesale-tax page still says the tax applies to certain adult-use sales and transfers beginning January 1, 2026. A press release doesn't rewrite that page.

Revenue Administrative Bulletin 2026-3 is the formal how-to. It sits under the Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act (MCL 205.901 and following). The rate is 24% of wholesale price. It's a separate layer from the 10% in MRTMA.

Treasury's March 17 guidance is still the payment calendar I can source:

• Quarterly 2026 payments: April 20, July 20, October 20
• Full-year 2026 returns: January 20, 2027
• First-year relief: pay at least 75% of what you later owe for each of the first three quarters, then file clean by that January date, and Treasury said it would waive penalties and interest

Treasurer Rachael Eubanks called it a first-year tax and asked businesses to start the quarterly payments. That's the state's voice. The tax is still on.

The next payment date after this post is October 20. If you hear a shop rumor that "Lansing killed it last week," ask which law changed. I can't source that one through September 17.

The two repeal bills still sitting in committee #

Two bills would repeal the wholesale act. Both are still in the committee they entered. I pulled the Senate and House histories myself. Those pages don't show a later hearing or vote.

Bill	Lead name	What it would do	Last action on the legislature page
SB 810	Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, with Jeff Irwin, Jon Bumstead, Roger Hauck, Joseph Bellino Jr., Jim Runestad, Rosemary Bayer, Sylvia Santana	Repeals 2025 PA 23 (MCL 205.901 through 205.913)	Introduced February 26, 2026. Referred to Senate Government Operations the same day. No later journal line.
HB 6224	Rep. James DeSana	Same repeal of 2025 PA 23	Introduced July 29, 2026. First reading. Referred to House Appropriations. Electronically reproduced August 11. No later journal line.

The legislature site, when I read it, showed the Senate adjourned until Tuesday, September 22 at 10:00 a.m. and the House until 1:30 p.m. that same day. They're in recess until Tuesday.

Marijuana Moment noted DeSana's bill and the old $420 million road-tax projection. Bridge said James has not said how, or if, he would replace that road money if the tax goes away, and that his campaign didn't answer Bridge. I don't have his replacement plan for that road money.

A lawsuit isn't a repeal either. Court of Claims Judge Sima G. Patel declined to block collection in December 2025, as MiCIA later recapped. The Court of Appeals denied a bypass in January. MiCIA said on April 24 that the Michigan Supreme Court, on April 22, told the Court of Appeals to take another look and to expedite. A second suit on "tax pyramiding" was filed in March. Through September 17 I have no sourced later holding.

What Else Did James Put Next to the Repeal Line? #

The same Freedom Agenda page that pledges to repeal or cut the 24% also pledges a harder line on unlicensed hemp THC, illicit grows, and how the Cannabis Regulatory Agency should spend its time. That's on johnjamesmi.com. Marijuana Moment printed those planks next to the endorsement. The tax verb isn't the whole page.

James writes that Michigan voters approved a legal, regulated market in 2018, and that the state should "respect that decision" while "promoting workplace and community safety, keeping intoxicating products out of the hands of children, protecting consumers, and enforcing the law against those who refuse to follow it."

Then the other lines, in his words:

• Hemp THC off the candy aisle. "Delta-8, THCA, and synthetic cannabinoids must not be sold at gas stations or smoke shops without the same age limits, testing, and labeling required of licensed cannabis." And: "Intoxicating products belong in the regulated market" and "not next to the candy bars."
• Target the unlicensed pile. He says he would "aggressively target illegal trafficking, unlicensed operators, sales to minors, tax evasion, and product diversion" while "letting law-abiding businesses operate without unnecessary interference."
• CRA focus. He wants the agency on "real enforcement, consumer and workplace safety, and protecting kids," and to "eliminate rules that burden compliant businesses without improving public safety."
• Illicit grows. He cites Chinese-linked illegal grows and writes, "As Governor, we will end these illicit grow operations and cut off the CCP's foothold in Michigan."

Schneider's Wednesday release, as Marijuana Moment printed it, also said James "pledges to work to eliminate rules that burden compliant businesses while promoting workplace and community safety, keeping intoxicating products out of the hands of children and protecting consumers." That sentence tracks his page. It's not a second, separate tax cut.

Bridge added older context: in 2018 James said he would vote against the legalization proposal and would respect the result if it passed. Eight years later he's quoting the 2018 vote as a reason to keep a licensed market and cut this newer tax. You can hold both facts at once.

The tax sentence didn't travel alone. You can decide which plank matters at a Detroit shop.

What Does This Mean for a Detroit Ticket Tonight? #

Tonight's licensed Detroit ticket still prints the 10% excise and 6% sales tax. The 24% still sits upstream, in the shelf price, if someone passed it. MCL 333.27963 is the 10%. Treasury is the 24%. Wednesday's quotes don't change either line.

Treasury's tax-liability FAQ says the 24% hits three adult-use moves:

• the first sale or transfer to a retailer
• a shop that grows and sells its own adult-use lot (a microbusiness)
• a medical provisioning center that moves product onto an adult-use shelf

A grower-to-processor handoff isn't that first retail-bound sale. Medical wholesale sits outside the 24% until someone flips the lot to adult-use. MCL 333.27963 also skips the 10% on medical transfers under the medical acts. A card still doesn't skip sales tax by magic. Ask what inventory they are ringing.

Wednesday's quotes don't rewrite those rules. James didn't say "medical only." Benson didn't say "cards are the fix" either. If a Detroit budtender starts that rumor, it didn't come from the September 16 release I can source.

Metro Detroit this week:

1. Read the two printed percents. If you only see 10% and 6%, that's normal. The 24% isn't supposed to appear.
2. Don't treat an endorsement as a price cut. MiCIA spoke on Wednesday. Treasury's page didn't come down.
3. Don't treat a cheap ounce as proof the tax died. Oversupply can hide a tax the same way a hoop house hides a cold night. Our Q2 print is the cash book, not a menu.
4. Ask adult-use or medical. A card can skip some cannabis layers. It doesn't automatically skip sales tax.
5. Stay in the licensed shop. James's own plank spends as many words on gas-station hemp as on the 24%. Those are different legal piles.
6. If you buy weight, do the 16% math once. A $120 20-pack of 1 gram joints adds $19.20 at the register in that example. A single 1g at $7.50 adds $1.20. Those are checkout taxes. The 24% is already in the shelf number if it was passed through.

At Divine Toke we sell flower, 1 gram pre-rolls, and a 20-pack (20 × 1g) at $120. We don't invent extra SKUs to make a tax week prettier. If you want the jar without a mystery eighth, start at the shop.

Bridge said about 41,000 people worked in Michigan's marijuana industry as of July 31. Schneider told Bridge some owners said they were "operating on a wish and a prayer." That's owners talking about their own shops. Your job at the counter is still the ticket in your hand.

One Metro Detroit habit that helps: keep last week's ticket. If the 10% and 6% look the same and the sticker jumped, the change is in the shelf price. If both moved, ask the shop what they rang. Don't argue with a budtender about a campaign page.

How Is This Different From the Q2 Print and the May Explainer? #

This post is the September 16 quote sheet, not the July cash book and not the May "what is the 24%" explainer. Mash them together and you'll hear a repeal that hasn't happened.

Piece	Date	What it owns	What it doesn't own
May 24% explainer	May 14	How the wholesale layer works, who pays first, the early court and SB 810 story	The Q2 print; the Sep 16 endorsement
August tax watch	Aug 21	Is the stack still live this month; receipt vs shelf	James/MiCIA Wednesday quotes
Q2 $37.38 million	Sep 10	Treasury's July cash line; WJR/Crain's shortfall frame	Who endorsed whom on Sep 16
This post	Sep 17	Who said what on Sep 16–17; bills still in committee	A new dollar print; a vote count

WJR on September 2, citing Crain's, said the 24% generated $37.38 million in the second quarter, up from about $34 million in the first, and $73.4 million so far against a $315 million fiscal-year forecast and about $105 million a quarter. Schneider was on that WJR show talking about the lag. That radio day is not the Wednesday endorsement. Don't flatten them.

Federal 280E is a different tax fight. If a shop starts talking "rescheduling fixed my ticket," send them to our 280E explainer. A federal business-deduction rule doesn't repeal CRFTA or MRTMA.

WJR on September 10 had Bridge's Simon Schuster on the air about why James is backing a repeal. That's still talk. Nobody signed a bill.

What Should Shoppers Watch Next? #

Watch the next Treasury due date and the next official bill action. Don't watch a quote as if it were a price tag. Treasury already told businesses the next 2026 quarterly payment is October 20. A November election isn't a cheaper eighth on September 17.

What I can source next:

• October 20, 2026. Next wholesale-tax payment date on the March 17 calendar.
• The next monthly financial report. That's how WJR got the $37.38 million Q2 label. A new print would be a new story.
• A new line on SB 810 or HB 6224. A hearing would be news. A press conference is still talk.
• A court holding with a date after July. Patel didn't block collection. The appeals track is open. That's all I can source through this date.
• A Benson sentence that is actually a yes or a no. I don't have one through September 17.
• A James sentence that picks repeal or reduce, and names a road-fund replacement. I don't have that through September 17 either. Bridge already flagged the gap.

If you only remember four facts from this week:

1. MiCIA endorsed James on September 16 and tied it to the tax pledge.
2. James said he will work to repeal or sharply reduce the 24%.
3. Benson asked for more data and watched consumer costs.
4. The tax is still being collected.

You decide what that set means. Tonight a Detroit ticket still prints the same two percents, unless a shop changed its sticker for some other reason.

This article is for general information. It's not tax advice, legal advice, or a campaign ad. Laws move. Check Treasury and the legislature bill pages before you spend money on a rumor.

Frequently Asked Questions #

Did MiCIA endorse John James on September 16, 2026? #

Yes. Marijuana Moment reported a Wednesday press release from the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association naming James "the clear choice for the cannabis industry." Robin Schneider, the group's executive director, is the named speaker. MiCIA's September 16 release is the official page. The September 17 newsletter recapped the same nod.

Did John James say he would repeal the 24% tax, or only reduce it? #

He used both verbs: "repeal or sharply reduce." That pair is on his Freedom Agenda page and in the September 16 Marijuana Moment story. He also said he will "work to" do that as governor. That's a pledge. Nobody signed a repeal. Bridge reported he hasn't said how he would replace the road money.

What did Jocelyn Benson say about the wholesale tax? #

She called it a "new and emerging issue" and asked for more data. Bridge Michigan printed the rest: she wants to know where the money is going and what the tax did to the industry, and she doesn't want tax-code changes that drive up costs for people in Michigan. Marijuana Moment repeated those lines on September 16. She still hasn't said yes to a repeal.

Is the 24% wholesale tax repealed as of September 17, 2026? #

No. Collection is still live. Treasury still describes a 24% tax on certain adult-use wholesale sales and transfers that began January 1, 2026. RAB 2026-3 is still the how-to. A trade-group endorsement doesn't take a tax off the books.

Did Senate Bill 810 or House Bill 6224 get a vote after the endorsement? #

No. Neither bill shows a later journal action than the committee referrals already on the page. SB 810 has sat in Senate Government Operations since February 26, 2026. HB 6224 has sat in House Appropriations since July 29, with an August 11 reproduction. Those pages don't show a later hearing.

Does the 24% print on a Detroit dispensary ticket? #

No. You still see 10% and 6% at checkout on adult-use. MCL 333.27963 is the 10% excise. Sales tax is the 6%. Treasury says the 24% is owed on the first sale or transfer to a retailer. That cost can sit in the sticker. It's not a third percent on the paper.

Where does the 24% wholesale tax money go? #

Treasury says it goes to the neighborhood road fund for infrastructure. That's on the official wholesale-tax page and in the March 17 release, not a cannabis equity pot. The older 10% excise still splits under MRTMA. Don't mix those two piles.

Are the MiCIA lawsuits a repeal? #

No. A case can run while Treasury still collects. Judge Sima Patel declined to block the tax in December 2025, per MiCIA's April recap. The Court of Appeals denied a bypass in January. MiCIA said April 24 that the Supreme Court told the Court of Appeals to take another look. Through September 17 I don't have a sourced holding past that review order.

Did Whitmer, Hall, or Brinks answer the September 16 endorsement? #

I couldn't source a September 16 or 17 statement from those three that answers the nod. Marijuana Moment noted Whitmer is term-limited and signed the tax last year. Bridge said a Hall spokesperson didn't respond on the earlier repeal pitch. Silence isn't a quote.

What else is on James's cannabis plank besides the tax? #

Hemp THC rules, unlicensed enforcement, and how he would point the CRA. His Freedom Agenda says delta-8, THCA, and synthetics shouldn't sit next to candy bars without licensed-market rules. He also writes about illicit grows and "the CCP's foothold in Michigan." Marijuana Moment printed that stack next to the endorsement. The tax sentence is one plank, not the whole page.

How is this post different from the $37.38 million Q2 story? #

That post is the July cash line. This post is who spoke on September 16. WJR and our Q2 piece own the $37.38 million. The May explainer owns the mechanism. The August watch asked if the stack was still live. This one is the Wednesday quote sheet.

What should I do with a 1 gram or 20-pack ticket this week? #

Read shelf price, then 10%, then 6%. Plan as if the 24% is still in the sticker. On a $7.50 1 gram pre-roll, checkout taxes in that example are $1.20. On a $120 20-pack (20 × 1g), they are $19.20. Divine Toke's shop list is flower, 1g joints, and that 20-pack. A campaign quote doesn't change the math until a law does.

If You Are Still Buying Licensed Flower This Week #

If you want sun-grown flower while Lansing talks, start at the Divine Toke shop. We're a Detroit-area Michigan farm. We sell flower, 1 gram joints, and a 20-pack at $120. No extra SKU to "beat" a tax that's still on the Treasury page.

For the cash print, read what $37.38 million means at the counter. For the origin of the 24%, read the May wholesale-tax explainer. For last month's "is it still live" list, use the August tax watch. For the federal layer shops also carry, use 280E explained.

This article is for educational and general-information purposes. It's not tax advice, legal advice, or campaign advice. Check primary pages before you spend money on a rumor.