Pennsylvania Lawmakers Are ‘Getting Close’ On Marijuana Legalization Deal As Budget Deadline Looms, Key Senator Says
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A key Pennsylvania senator says he’s working with bipartisan and bicameral lawmakers to develop a passable marijuana legalization bill as the legislature stares down a quickly approaching budget deadline—telling supporters that “we’re getting close” and they shouldn’t “ease up” on the fight.
“It is time to end the prohibition on adult-use cannabis in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Sen. Shariff Street (D) said during a Cannabis Day at the Capitol event on Monday. “We’re going to make sure that we do this in an equitable way.”
“There are some basic things that we know we need to have done,” he said. “We need to make sure when we pass a recreational adult-use bill that we seal and expunge the records of all those people who’ve been who’ve had cannabis convictions in the past.”
“We need to make sure that we pass a bill that creates opportunities for all folks. That means small farmers and small business people. And we need to make sure we have a diversity of folks involved in the growing, processing and also in the dispensary part of the business,” Street said. “We need to make sure that we have a completely diverse supply chain.”
“Look, Black and brown communities were disproportionately affected by the war on cannabis. We need to make sure that they equally benefit in the cannabis legalization market, and that’s why we need to make sure we have social equity licenses. We need to make sure that we have social equity grants. We need to make sure that the communities that were closest to the pain are closest to the profits as well. We need to get this done, because it makes no sense that our revenue goes across the lines.”
“Almost all the states around us have already legalized adult-use cannabis, and we know, even though it’s not federally lawful, people are driving right across that border and consuming legal, adult-use cannabis,” he said. “That revenue is going to all of our border states, and it’s not going into the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
“I want you to know we’re getting close. This is not the time to ease up. This is not the time to back off,” the senator said. “We are closer now to ever passing an adult-use cannabis bill and getting it on the governor’s desk.”
Street thanked his bipartisan colleagues in the House—including Reps. Emily Kinkead (D), Abby Major (R) and Amen Brown (D), who have championed their own legalization proposals—for working with the Senate “in a collaborative way.”
“We have a good core group of us who’ve been working to move this bill—to move this concept forward—and I think we’re gonna get it done,” he said. “We need your voices to stay engaged. We need to stay involved.”
The senator also stressed the need to allow medical cannabis patients to grow their own medicine for personal use, saying that if it’s “a plant that comes from the earth, and if people want to grow it in order to take care of their own needs, that should be included as well” in a reform plan.
“So look, we’re moving forward,” he said. “But Pennsylvania law has not caught up with the realities of our situation… We need to end the prohibition of cannabis, adult-use cannabis, in Pennsylvania. Now we need to do it in a fair and equitable way.”
Kinkead, also speaking at the Monday rally, said that while she and other House Democrats recently passed a bill to legalize cannabis sales through a system of state-run stores, “I disagree with that model, because I think that a state that for generations has criminalized a substance should not be the primary beneficiary of that substance when it’s legalized—it should be the communities that we have been criminalized.”
“We cannot legalize marijuana without considering the impacts that we have had on communities by the over criminalization of marijuana,” she said, “and that has to be the first and foremost thought when we talk about adult-use marijuana, we have to be putting investments back into the communities that have been most negatively impacted by the failed war on drugs.”
Rep. Chris Rabb (D-PA) similarly said that “the bill that we passed out of the House will not be the bill that comes before us when we finally vote to legalize adult-use cannabis.
“What we will ultimately vote on will look very different than what we’ve considered thus far,” he said. “And there are a lot of great minds who’ve come together on a number of pieces of legislation.”
“If we try to pass a bill that’s about generating tax revenue for other purposes, we’ve lost. So folks who are talking about, ‘this will be a great revenue generated to X, Y and Z’—that’s not how we should lead on this subject. It should be around criminal legal reform. It should be around racial justice. It should be around community safety, public health, social impact—not about creating more money for politicians to support various projects of theirs back home or what have you. If you’re putting an egregious tax on weed, who’s going to buy it?”
Other lawmakers continue to emphasize the revenue generating potential of legalization, however.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Jordan Harris (D) also weighed in on cannabis policy issues in an interview with WHTM that aired on Sunday, saying that the “states around us have already legalized adult-use cannabis.”
“This is another opportunity for us to generate revenue. We’re leaving money on the table, but not only are we leaving money on the table if you talk to our friends in New York, if you talk to our friends in New Jersey, what they’ll tell you, honestly, is ‘Thank you. Thank you,’” he said. “Tell the Pennsylvanians who flood to New York and flood to New Jersey and spend their money in their [legalized marijuana] market. Those are taxpayer dollars that we should be having.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) recently said marijuana legalization will not be included in the 2026 budget as lawmakers approach a deadline he expects they will miss. But Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is still holding out hope that negotiators can “get it done.”
With the budget due by a constitutionally mandated deadline of June 30, legislators appear to be at an impasse on certain key issues, including the governor’s request to legalize adult-use cannabis via the legislation. Pittman said he doesn’t see a path forward for the reform on that schedule, however.
Shapiro, on the other hand, hasn’t quite thrown in the towel, saying at a press briefing last week that “we all understand we have to compromise” on a number of issues to reach a budget agreement.
“We also, I think, all understand the set of issues we have to work through—and we’re going to continue to work through them,” he said. “We’re each going to have to give a little bit. We’re going to make progress. We’re going to get it done.”
Pittman, for his part, criticized House lawmakers for passing a marijuana legalization bill that would have involved state-run shops. The legislation was quickly rejected by a Senate committee.
Following that defeat, the governor said he still remained “hopeful” that lawmakers could deliver a reform bill to his desk by a budget deadline at the end of this month—and he urged the GOP-controlled Senate to “put their ideas on the table.”
“We’ve had really good, honest dialogue about it,” the governor, who separately criticized the Senate for abruptly derailing the House marijuana legalization bill, said.
“Look, I think this is an issue of competitiveness,” he said. “Every state around us, with the exception of West Virginia, has gotten it done. You go visit some of these dispensaries along our border—in this case with Maryland, [that] is probably the closest one here. Sixty percent of the people walking into those dispensaries are from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Whether Pennsylvania legislators will advance legalization this session remains to be seen. But two Democratic lawmakers—Street and Rep. Rick Krajewski (D)—recently said they’re aiming to reach a compromise and pass reform legislation before the budget deadline.
Also, last month Sen. Marty Flynn (D) announced his intent to file a new bill to legalize marijuana in the state, calling on colleagues to join him on the measure.
While the House legislation Krajewski sponsored alongside Rep. Dan Frankel (D) was rejected in a Senate committee following its expedited passage through the House along party lines, Street said he’s “cautiously optimistic we’re going to be able to revive the bill and amend it and move forward with a work product that allows us to get a bill on the governor’s desk and realize revenue.”
That said, Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who has sponsored legalization legislation with Street, recently seemed to suggest that lawmakers should pump the brakes on the push to enact the policy change amid resistance to reform within his caucus and instead pass a bill to create a new regulatory body that can begin overseeing medical cannabis and hemp while preparing to eventually handle the adult-use market as well.
“I remain committed to crafting a cannabis bill that can pass the Senate and be signed into law to benefit all Pennsylvanians,” Laughlin said. “That starts with honest dialogue from everyone involved, including House leadership and the governor, to develop a realistic approach–not political theater.”
Following the 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.
Krajewski, for example, recently wrote in a Marijuana Moment op-ed that Senate Republicans who killed his House-passed cannabis legalization bill are “stuck in their prohibitionist views of the past” and are “out of touch with the will of our Commonwealth.”
Prior to that vote, 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.
GOP lawmaker Major—who is sponsoring another forthcoming legalization bill that envisions a traditional private sales model alongside Democrat Kinkead—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.
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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