Pennsylvania Governor Slams GOP Senators For ‘Ignoring’ Voters By Killing Marijuana Legalization Bill
From toxifillers.com with love
The governor of Pennsylvania is sharply criticizing the GOP-controlled Senate for “ignoring” the will of voters after killing a House-passed bill to legalize marijuana.
About a week after the House narrowly advanced reform legislation—which would’ve created an adult-use market with state-run dispensaries—a Senate committee on Tuesday rejected the proposal from Reps. Rick Krajewski (D) and Dan Frankel (D).
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said during an interview with WILK News Radio on Wednesday that the bill’s rejection does a disservice to the bipartisan majority of voters in the commonwealth who support legalization, as well as the state itself that’s losing out on potential tax revenue to neighboring states that have enacted the policy change.
“Look, clearly people want it,” Shapiro, who included legalization in his budget request for the third time this year, said. “Poll after poll shows that.”
“But if you want to ignore the polls, go look at what’s really happening. Drive across the border to [New Jersey] or to New York,” he said. “If you go to an adult-use cannabis dispensary, over 60 percent of the customers in those stores just outside the borders of Pennsylvania are Pennsylvanians. They’re going there. They’ve made that choice that they want to partake.”
“It may not be a choice I make or you make—but it’s a choice they make, and they want the right to do that,” Shapiro said. “And while they go into Jersey and New York to purchase their cannabis legally, they’re also paying taxes to those states, which means those states’ roads and bridges and schools get funded.”
“Look, I have been clear about this for years. Pennsylvania needs to compete, and we’re surrounded by states that have legalized, and they’re reaping the benefits,” the governor said. “I think this is an issue of liberty. I think it’s an issue of economic opportunity and competitiveness, and I’ve put forward now—during my time as governor, multiple times—the key goals of any legalization bill.”
Without specifically endorsing the legalization proposal that passed the House, Shapiro noted its advancement through the Democratic-controlled chamber and said it recognized “the need to compete” with other states.
“The Senate ignored the will of the people and basically shelved the bill and said they didn’t want to move on it right now. This is going to have to require bipartisan compromise. I just think we can’t afford to do nothing. And the Senate, I would hope, would reconsider just shoving this bill in a drawer and ignoring it—and start listening to the people of Pennsylvania and start trying to be more competitive, and recognize that we have an ability to reap the benefits from this.”
Legalization would also help “right the wrongs of some things that happened in the past for people who are convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana in the past,” the governor said. “I think we should expunge those records, and I think there’s an opportunity here for Pennsylvania to really lead on this issue, but it’s going to require some action by the legislature, and I hope they’ll step up soon and do it.”
Listen to the governor’s comments, starting around 13:55 into the audio below:
The WILK host asked whether Shapiro feels it’s time to put the issue up to voters, but the governor explained that Pennsylvania doesn’t have a citizen-led ballot initiative process and that putting a referendum before voters would similarly require the legislature’s action.
“I’d rather see us just adopt this and get it done and start competing the way every state around us is at this point,” he said. “Every other state’s reaping the benefits at this point… I think we’ll see hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. And listen, it’s also going to be a regulated industry. I think a benefit of it is we shut down the black market right now, or we shut down the black market that exists right now. I think that’s an important part of it. We can right some of the wrongs in the past.”
“I think we can make sure that our small businesses—that these dispensaries are more locally owned, so we’re creating economic opportunity,” he said. “You go into these other states where they’ve legalized, and you’re seeing massive benefits to local communities if it’s properly regulated. You’re seeing new businesses spring up. It’s good for our agricultural interests as well.”
“I think there’s a lot of benefits we can still get, even though states around us have legalized.”
Following Tuesday’s Senate committee vote, lawmakers from both chambers who support legalization have been trading criticisms about each other’s roles in the stalled push to end prohibition.
For example, Frankel—a lead sponsor of the House measure—took a hit at Senate Law and Justice Committee Chairman Dan Laughlin (R) after his panel rejected the measure, saying “Republicans have had control of the Senate for 30 years, and the first time they bring up a cannabis legalization bill, it’s to vote it down.”
“The way this works is: House passes a bill, Senate passes a bill, chambers work together with [the governor] to sort out the best possible law,” he said. “Cannabis is accessible and regulated, and PA communities benefit.”
The comments were in response to a post on X by Laughlin, who supports cannabis legalization but said the state-run store model from Frankel wouldn’t pass in the Senate.
“The House’s advancement of HB 1200 to the Senate wasn’t a genuine legalization effort but political theater,” the senator said. “I haven’t received any discussions from House leadership or bill sponsors.”
Prior to the Senate panel’s vote this week, Pennsylvania’s Republican attorney general said that while he doesn’t currently support the House-passed marijuana legalization bill, he’s open to changing his mind about the policy change after continuing to review the details.
For what it’s worth, a recent poll found that Pennsylvania voters say they favor a model where cannabis is sold by licensed private businesses, rather than through a system of state-run stores.
The governor has repeatedly called for adult-use marijuana legalization. However, he hasn’t endorsed the specific idea of having a state-controlled model.
Rep. Abby Major (R)—who is sponsoring another forthcoming legalization bill that envisions a traditional private sales model alongside Rep. Emily Kinkead (D)—said during the House floor debate on HB 1200 that she stands opposed to the competing bill, emphasizing that she disagrees with the state-run stores proposal.
While Democrats control the House and governor’s office, they will still need to reach a deal with the GOP-controlled Senate to effectuate change. And in addition to the conflicting perspectives among pro-legalization legislators, another potential barrier to reform is exactly that political dynamic.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) said that while he sees a “path forward” for enacting regulations for separate gaming-related reform, “I’m not seeing consensus between the four caucuses and the governor collectively that [marijuana legalization] should be a priority.”
Regardless of which direction Pennsylvania lawmakers do—or don’t—go on marijuana legalization this session, a survey released in April shows a majority of adults in the state support the reform—and opposition to the policy change has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the last decade.
Kinkead has made the case in another recent interview that legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania will help the state mitigate public health and safety concerns associated with the illicit market, including the fact that unregulated products can be laced with fentanyl.
The lawmaker previously introduced a separate bipartisan marijuana legalization bill, alongside 15 other cosponsors, last September. It did not advance, however.
Meanwhile, Laughlin recently called for the creation of a state “legacy” fund, using tax revenue from adult-use marijuana sales and gaming to make long-term investments in the Commonwealth’s economy.
The senator argued that, beyond using any resulting tax revenue to fund day-to-day projects and public services, the state should earmark a portion of those tax dollars for a fund to “provide a sustainable source of prosperity that lasts for generations.”
Another GOP Pennsylvania senator, Sen. Gene Yaw (R), is backing the push to legalize marijuana in the commonwealth, pointing out that, historically, prohibition “has not turned out well,” noting the country’s experience with alcohol criminalization.
Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) recently said that Democrats are ready to pass a marijuana legalization bill this session, but that the party “will need Republican support” to get the job done—adding that it will be a “heavy lift.”
Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, owing in large part to GOP opposition. But not all Republican members are against the policy change—and one recently said she felt her party should seize the “opportunity to snatch” the issue from Democrats.
Separately in March, the Pennsylvania House approved a bill sponsored by Frankel that’s meant to strengthen safety standards and oversight of the state’s medical marijuana program as lawmakers work to advance adult-use legalization.
While Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program was enacted nearly a decade ago, lawmakers say the measure, which now heads to the Senate, is necessary to improve testing compliance, product audits and lab inspections, among other aspects of the industry.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would allow farmers and other small agriculture operators to sell marijuana they cultivate to existing growers and and processors if the state moves to legalize adult-use cannabis.
Separately, an independent Pennsylvania agency is projecting more tax dollars to be generated from adult-use marijuana sales compared to what the governor’s office has estimated, although it expects significantly less overall revenue from cannabis legalization due to differing views on licensing fees.
Pennsylvania officials have also launched a new survey that invites legal marijuana businesses across the country to provide information about their operations to help the state better understand the cannabis industry as lawmakers consider enacting adult-use legalization this session.
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Also, in a video interview released in March, the governor emphasized that the state is “losing out” to others that have already enacted adult-use legalization, while maintaining a policy that’s enriched the illicit market.
“I think it’s an issue of freedom and liberty. I mean, if folks want to smoke, they should be able to do so in a safe and legal way,” he said. “We should shut down the black market—and, by the way, every state around us is doing it. Pennsylvanians are driving to those other states and paying taxes in those other states.”
The state’s agriculture secretary separately told lawmakers that he’s fully confident that his department is in a “really good” position to oversee an adult-use marijuana program if lawmakers act.
Meanwhile, in February, top Pennsylvania police and health officials told lawmakers they are prepared to implement marijuana legalization if the legislature moves forward with the reform—and that they stand ready to work together as the details of legislation to achieve it are crafted.
Amid the growing calls for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, a GOP state senator said prohibition has been a “disaster,” and a regulated sales model for cannabis—similar to how alcohol and tobacco are handled—could serve as an effective alternative.
A Republican Pennsylvania senator also recently defended the push to legalize and regulate marijuana, calling it “the most conservative stance” on the issue.
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