                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CANNABIS EQUITY REINVESTMENT BOARD; PURPOSE; MEMBERSHIP; QUORUM; MEETINGS (§
2.2-2499.5)

A. 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&#8217;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&#8217;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.

HISTORY: 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 550, 551.