Healey taps executive branch veteran to lead Cannabis Control Commission
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey appointed Christopher Harding, Xiomara DeLobato and Anthony Wilson to lead the Cannabis Control Commission through a series of long-awaited reforms.
Why it matters: All eyes are on the new commissioners to see if they can usher in a new era for an agency beleaguered by infighting, red tape and oversight failures.
Catch up quick: A cannabis reform bill that became law on April 19 disbanded the five-member commission.
- The law gave Healey sole appointing authority and ordered her to name the three new commissioners within 30 days of it taking effect.
State of play: Healey designated Harding as chair — a role the new law elevated to CEO.
- The revamped position has direct authority over day-to-day operations, staffing and budgeting at the CCC.
- Harding has decades of state government experience, including as Commissioner of the Department of Revenue.
- He currently serves as chief of staff and undersecretary at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and was a founding member of the Cannabis Advisory Board.
DeLobato, designated as the commission's social equity commissioner, is currently VP and chief of staff at the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council.
- Her career has spanned economic development, workforce strategy and community engagement.
Wilson has a background in cannabis law, municipal government and small business development.
- He has advised cannabis operators and entrepreneurs and previously served in senior roles in Springfield and Cambridge.
What we're watching: They're starting out with a long list of unfinished projects.
- Those range from approving applications from struggling dispensaries to enter into receivership to setting up the new social consumption law for pot lounges to setting up the online tips portal and other aspects of the new law.