Senate to debate economic impact bill, consider appointment of Cannabis Control Commission receiver

Lawmakers may have their first chance to implement Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro’s recommendation for a receiver to run the Cannabis Control Commission when the Senate debates its economic development bill, which is expected to emerge as early as this week.

Sen. Michael Moore, a Democrat from Millbury, said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would introduce an amendment to the Senate bill to begin implementing measures the government watchdog said are needed to stabilize the “rudderless agency,” where personnel disputes and internal drama have overshadowed important policy and regulatory work.

Last month, Shapiro urged top lawmakers to intervene with the CCC by appointing a receiver to run day-to-day operations and then restructure the agency by amending the “unclear and contradictory” enabling legislation that lawmakers drafted in 2017.

“Other than the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home, I’ve never heard of a request from a state entity to have a state entity placed under conservatorship. So I’m surprised that the situation has deteriorated so much from where it was about a year ago in January,” Moore said on NBC 10’s “@ Issue” alongside Shapiro. He added, “I think we need an overhaul of the agency.”

Acting CCC Chairwoman Ava Callender Concepcion sent her own letter to lawmakers responding to Shapiro’s suggestions, telling them that while “the challenges to the Commission are far from secret,” following the inspector general’s recommendation “is inadvisable.”

Concepcion added: “I have serious reservations about both the process followed by the OIG and the content of the directive itself. In short, it appears that the OIG, whose website states that its goal is to “promote transparency,” is in reality advocating greater government secrecy and a concentration of power within the Commission. I do not agree with this approach.”

Shapiro said in the NBC interview Sunday that he was forced to sound the alarm with the legislature when the CCC decided to strip interim executive director Debbie Hilton-Creek of many executive functions.

“In my opinion, based on our work, they were absolutely going in the wrong direction and I had no choice, given my responsibility under Chapter 12A of the Massachusetts General Laws to prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse, to take action when the only entity that can act is the Legislature and it was still in session,” Shapiro said.