Section 2.2-2499.5 - Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board; purpose; membership; quorum; meetingsA. The Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board (the Board) is established as a policy board in the executive branch of state government. The purpose of the Board is to directly address the impact of economic disinvestment, violence, and historical overuse of criminal justice responses to community and individual needs by providing resources to support local design and control of community-based responses to such impacts.B. The Board shall have a total membership of 20 members that shall consist of 13 nonlegislative citizen members and seven ex officio members. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed as follows: three to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, one of whom shall be a person who has been previously incarcerated or convicted of a marijuana-related crime, one of whom shall be an expert in the field of public health with experience in trauma-informed care, if possible, and one of whom shall be an expert in education with a focus on access to opportunities for youth in underserved communities; five to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, one of whom shall be an expert on Virginia's foster care system, one of whom shall be an expert in workforce development, one of whom shall be a representative from one of Virginia's historically black colleges and universities, one of whom shall be a veteran, and one of whom shall be an entrepreneur with expertise in emerging industries or access to capital for small businesses; and five to be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, one of whom shall be a representative from the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and four of whom shall be community-based providers or community development organization representatives who provide services to address the social determinants of health and promote community investment in communities adversely and disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibitions, including services such as workforce development, youth mentoring and educational services, job training and placement services, and reentry services. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be citizens of the Commonwealth and reflect the racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic diversity of the Commonwealth. The Secretaries of Education, Health and Human Resources, and Public Safety and Homeland Security, the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Chief Workforce Development Advisor, and the Attorney General or their designees shall serve ex officio with voting privileges. The Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority or his designee shall serve ex officio without voting privileges.
Ex officio members of the Board shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. After the initial staggering of terms, nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for a term of four years. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. All members may be reappointed.
The Board shall be chaired by the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or his designee. The Board shall select a vice-chairman from among its membership. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The Board shall meet at least two times each year and shall meet at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request.
2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 550, 551.Added by Acts 2021SP1 c. 551,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2021.Added by Acts 2021SP1 c. 550,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2021.