Recreational weed is not in the Pa. budget, delaying hopes of marijuana advocates

Legalized recreational-use marijuana is not included in Pennsylvania’s budget, delaying a deal that cannabis advocates had hoped lawmakers would strike before the summer’s fiscal deadline.

Medical-use marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania, though the state falls behind neighbors such as New Jersey, where the adult-use cannabis industry flourished since its 2021 legalization.

A legal cannabis industry could net Pennsylvania $41 million in tax revenue during its first year and bring in hundreds of millions per year before the end of the decade, studies say, and both advocates and lawmakers have heralded legalization as an untapped economic driver.

Lawmakers had until June 30 to finalize a bill before the budget deadline. But while the passage of the $47.6 billion spending package was delayed by over a week, House members who support such a proposal said there still wasn’t enough time for representatives to agree on what a bill should include.

“We are listening to all the stakeholders, including within our caucus,” said Rep. Dan Frankel (D., Allegheny), who chairs the House Health Committee. “There are a lot of members who have different priorities.”

A final bill would have not only legalized recreational marijuana, which would be for adult use only, but would have included provisions that take public health, criminal, and social justice into account, Frankel said.

Democratic lawmakers have floated proposals that prioritize creating opportunities for Black and brown entrepreneurs to enter the industry, for example, reducing fees and offering interest-free loans for those who make under $75,000 per year.

Previous proposals have “made sense,” Frankel said, but “ultimately represent the industry’s interests.”

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has promised to sign a bill legalizing recreational marijuana, going as far as to include it in his 2024 budget proposal in February. Barring West Virginia, all of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have legalized cannabis.

Legislation legalizing marijuana would need to pass both the House, where Democrats hold a one-seat majority, and the Republican-controlled Senate, where many members have long opposed legalization. Still, Frankel suggested that a deal could be made across the aisle.

“My Republican colleagues have participated in our hearings and I would say by and large that they’re very thoughtful about this,” Frankel said. “Many of them, I would not say all of them, have a realistic view — that the toothpaste is out of the tube” as other states legalize.

Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) said legalizing recreational marijuana was one of several things Shapiro highlighted in his budget address but did not advocate for at the negotiating table.

“He talked about it in his budget address,” Ward said. “We never heard another word about it. It’s a lot of show, but not a lot of ‘go,’ as far as I’m concerned.”

However, Senate Republicans quickly rejected marijuana legalization after Shapiro’s budget address. And Shapiro said Thursday night at a news conference he would not discuss the private conversations that didn’t end up in the budget.

“As I said before, everybody had to compromise and we didn’t always get what we wanted, but we all are going to come back and continue to fight for the things that we believe in,” Shapiro added. “The things that I laid out in my budget I still believe in and we’re going to continue to fight for in the future.”

Meredith Buettner Schneider, executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, said she hopes lawmakers can agree on a bill during their fall session. Extended budget negotiations in 2023 left little room for them to come to agreement on a bill, she said, contributing to this year’s delay.

“Trying to put together a piece of comprehensive legislation that can be successful in two different chambers controlled by two different parties, it’s certainly an uphill battle,” Buettner Schneider said. “[Shapiro] coming to the table over the next couple months would be really critical to getting something done,” she said.

Meanwhile, lawmakers with the House’s Black caucus met in Harrisburg Wednesday to call for a cannabis bill that would include investment into communities which have experienced disproportionate levels of incarceration due to past drug policies.

Rep. Napoleon Nelson (D., Montgomery), the caucus chair, said that to legalize recreational marijuana “while thousands of Pennsylvanians have their lives, livelihoods, and even freedoms disrupted by a heavy-handed war on cannabis” was “unconscionable.”

Nelson said the caucus would not accept a bill that does not include provisions for the exoneration and expungement of prior cannabis charges, including parole violations, as well as compensation for those who have been wrongly convicted for cannabis-related crimes.