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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) again included adult-use cannabis legalization in his annual budget proposal, Philly Voice reports. Shapiro’s budget estimates that cannabis derived taxes and fees would bring $729.4 million to state coffers in the first year of implementation.
The governor’s budget urges lawmakers to pass adult-use cannabis reforms, saying the state “remains stuck in place, without commonsense protections and losing out on critical tax revenue and new business to neighboring states.”
Chris Goldstein, regional director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told the Voice that advocates “are still spinning [their] wheels in Pennsylvania.”
“I don’t see the traction that’s required to advance the legislation. … With the split between the Senate and the House, the whole strategy for legalization at this point is so far apart. I don’t think it’s ever been further apart.” — Goldstein to the Voice
Last session, the House passed a bill to legalize cannabis for adult use with sales at state-run liquor stores; however, the Senate-controlled Law & Justice Committee killed the proposal.
Meredith Buettner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, told the Voice that while that legislation “created some lines in the sand for what next steps might look like” it’s ultimately “an impediment” to what advocates are pushing for “because of how it’s been used politically.”
“I don’t believe we’re going to see a state store bill move in Pennsylvania,” she told the Voice.
Shapiro has repeatedly included adult-use cannabis reforms in his executive budget, only to be rebuffed by lawmakers.
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