(This story has been updated to clarify the changes in Pennsylvania law.)

Up to 30 new medical marijuana dispensaries could open in Pennsylvania under a bill signed into law by the state’s Democratic governor, a potential expansion of 20%.

Under Senate Bill 773 – which Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law Dec. 14, as promised – as many as 10 independent MMJ growers now qualify to apply for a dispensary license.

Until now, Pennsylvania law capped the number of dispensary license holders at 50.

That arrangement led to a market controlled by out of state big cannabis company that resembled a near monopoly, according to critics.

The new law:

• Could mean an expansion of up to 20% in the number of dispensaries allowed in the state if all 10 that receive approvals apply.
• Also allows up to four dispensaries previously barred from cultivating cannabis to begin growing operations.

The changes could help expand product offerings available to MMJ patients in the state, some of whom might be lured to nearby Ohio once adult-use sales begin there as anticipated in 2024.

There’s also new language that would require MMJ license holders to report any change in ownership affecting a stake of 20% or more.

Delinquent payments are causing a cascade of problems for small and large marijuana operators nationwide, according to a new report by Oregon-based cannabis data and research company Whitney Economics.

Preliminary results from the survey of operators and ancillary businesses revealed:

• 43% of respondents said delinquent accounts receivables are impacting operators’ ability to service debt.
• 32% of respondents believe delinquent accounts receivables are impacting operators’ ability to pay state or federal taxes.
• 59% of respondents reported that delinquent payments are having a greater impact on their business than Section 280E, the federal tax policy that prohibits marijuana operators from taking traditional business deductions because of the plant’s Schedule 1 status under the Controlled Substances Act.

Some respondents indicated accounts receivable delinquencies totaled more than two months of revenue, eclipsing millions of dollars in some cases.

Cannabis brands, distributors and manufacturers have been dealing with unpaid invoices for years, but the problems really ramped in mid-2022 as industry stocks tumbled and capital dried up, sources have told MJBizDaily.

The issue has led industry operators and lawmakers to seek potential solutions.

In May, MJBizDaily reported that a group of California distributors and brands representing more than half the state’s wholesale B2B cannabis market hired a credit association to rate retailers in the hopes of reducing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices – and reining in repeat offenders.

In California, the world’s largest regulated market, social equity licensees and brands, including Black- and Latino-owned businesses, have been particularly hit hard since most lack capital reserves and resources.

California Assembly Member Philip Ting earlier this year sponsored Assembly Bill 766, which proposed stiff penalties against operators skirting credit agreements.

However, the bill was not included among several major changes lawmakers approved to the state’s cannabis regulatory system.

In New York, regulators earlier this year proposed rules requiring operators to pay for purchases on credit within 90 days.