Pennsylvania’s Republican attorney general says he wants to be a “voice for potential public safety risks” of enacting the Democratic governor’s proposal to legalize adult-use marijuana—though he says his office would be ready to enforce the new law if lawmakers did vote to pass it. GOP leaders in the state legislature are again downplaying that the matter can be advanced this year.
State Attorney General Dave Sunday (R)—as well as Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices—were asked about the prospect of legalizing cannabis at budget-focused hearings before the House Appropriations Committee last week.
While many of the witnesses gave a neutral opinion about Governor. Josh Shapiro, (D), in his latest budget proposal, has urged legalization. Sunday said that marijuana enforcement, under current law, is of low priority.
He said that because the Attorney General’s Office targets high-level or mid-level traffickers of drugs, it wouldn’t have a big impact on the kind of work we do. We focus on drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamines and cocaine.
But Sunday expressed concern about the increase of drug-impaired drivers and stated, “very simply I just want to make people aware that this risk as a legislator is processing all that’s involved in making this decision and everything else.”
The attorney general—who also recently raised concerns about the “potential harm that could be caused criminally” by enacting the reform—was also pressed on the governor’s projections for tax revenue from marijuana sales. The attorney general said that he would not be comfortable discussing the tax revenue projections of the governor, given his lack of economics background.
“What I can say is this: Laws in Pennsylvania—and in this body, you all understand this better than probably most citizens—it’s not meant to make laws quick,” he said. It’s not easy to make a new law. “It’s not supposed to be easy just making a law,” I said.
Sunday stated, “I would simply like to speak out against any potential dangers to children or the public, as well as to ensure that my voice is heard.” “And if, at the end of the day, the legislature in its wisdom decides, ‘we’ve listened to you, we’ve taken that into consideration, but we do think that there should be recreational marijuana,’ then clearly, like every other law in Pennsylvania, we would certainly abide by it and do what we had to do to enforce. That’s what I think.”
He also refused to comment on whether or not he expects to need additional funding to support district attorneys in the event of legalization. The official stated that he would like to examine “new” studies and reports from other states to make that determination. The official also disclosed that, “up to this point”, he hadn’t discussed the topic with his counterparts in these states as an attorney general.
Justice P. Kevin Brobson, who oversees the Legalization Plan’s proposed expungement measures, said there was a “technological cost” to this as he’s seen in the past with other legislation that cleared records.
“To the extent the expungement becomes a law or an initiative passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, we certainly would hope that there be some consideration to the additional costs that the judicial branch will have to absorb—and the State Police, for that matter, would have to absorb—for purposes of implementing that,” Brobson said.
“We just ask that some consideration be given in the legislation of both both expense and time—give us enough lead time to work the systems out and make sure we can implement it in a way that makes sense and follows the will of the General Assembly,” he said.
The justices who appeared at the hearing declined to express their opinion on the concerns of a GOP member about possible consequences, such as resource demands for police in terms of drug testing and parental custody issues, or landlord-tenant problems.
Brobson stated, “I don’t believe that we think as judges.
“I have no doubt that both the General Assembly, as well as the Governor will be able discuss these collateral effects and find some agreement,” said he. We deal with collateral effects when they are presented to us. But we haven’t addressed these hypotheticals.
The question is whether there will ever be an accord. The Washington Examiner reported that, in an interview with the Senate Majority Chief Joe Pittman (R), the majority of Republicans are against the governor’s cannabis plan.
He said: “My duty as majority leader, is to ensure that I know where our caucus stands on the issue. I have not seen this prevailing opinion within our caucus.”
“You know I don’t think that vices and their revenue should drive the discussion,” he stated.
Shapiro, the GOP Senate leader was asked to submit a legalization plan that would be more specific for consideration by lawmakers.
Pittman added, “I think that when we are dealing with a nuanced issue of this magnitude and such great importance, the governor must first write down his thoughts on such a project.” Pittman also said that such initiatives should not be able to expunge records.
He said: “I’m not of the opinion that it is necessary to go back and expunge convictions already made.”
House Minority Leader Jesse Topper said the Republican opposition to the proposal for legalization is “fairly small” within the Democrat-controlled chamber. Topper also claimed that Governor Christie’s “gimmicky taxes” will have no meaningful effect on the budget deficit of the state.
Topper said marijuana’s federal Schedule I status, and banking issues that resulted from it are “one of most significant stumblingblocks” for reform.
He said, “These businesses could have actual capital if that changed.” I think this would open the door to more assistance.
Topper, as things currently stand, believes that support shown in polls for legalization may be overstated. He did acknowledge, however, that “there is no doubt that the cultural climate has changed” regarding the issue.
The governor’s plan for legalizing marijuana has also been the subject of intense interest from House and Senate Appropriators. Several officials have faced questions regarding the proposal during hearings in recent weeks.
Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Secretary, for example, told legislators that he is confident his department will be in a good position to supervise an adult-use cannabis program if the lawmakers pass this reform.
At that Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Sharif Street (D), who is planning to introduce bipartisan cannabis legalization legislation again this year, also discussed the reform proposal he recently announced in partnership with a Republican senator.
Meanwhile, last month, 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.
Separately, amid the growing calls for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, a GOP state senator says 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.
Voters are ready to see that policy change, according to a poll released earlier this month.
The survey, commissioned by the advocacy group ResponsiblePA, found that nearly 7 in 10 voters in the state support the reform—including a majority of Republicans. And 63 per cent want the state legislature to enact this reform rather than delay it.
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While Shapiro once again included a proposal to enact cannabis legalization in his latest budget request, there’s been mixed feedback from legislators—some of whom want to see the governor more proactively come to the table to discuss possible pathways for reform and others skeptical about the possibility of advancing the issue this session.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R), for example, said this month that he doesn’t “see any path whatsoever” to enacting legalization in line with the governor’s plan.
As well, Shapiro’s plan could pass during the current cycle of budgeting, according to the State Secretary for Department of Revenue. This means that reform could begin in a matter of months.
House Majority leader Matt Bradford (D) said, meanwhile, following the Governor’s Budget Speech that there is “real diversity of opinion among our members.” This was likely in reference to split opinions on regulatory models. Some lawmakers are pushing for a cannabis state program.
He also said recently that he feels the time is ripe to advance marijuana reform this session, saying “it strikes me as abdicating our responsibility to protect our communities and our children, and at the same time, we are losing revenue that is going to go into our neighboring states.”
Key lawmakers have expressed skepticism about the governor’s ability to see through the cannabis reform he’s proposing, however.
“The Governor needs to take the initiative on something.” Kim Ward (R), Senate President pro Tempore, said that the governor must take a lead role if he is to get something accomplished. “He can’t throw an idea out there—which he did last year—and say, ‘Let the legislature figure it out. It’s mine to sign. “Then I will go to all the states and do press conferences.”
Topper was asked if marijuana, one of Governor’s proposed budget items, could be implemented. And he said while he’s “not going to speak for the governor,” there’s “one person that has the ability to bring those deals together—and that is the governor.”
He referenced recent remarks from Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) who said there are logistical challenges to advancing legalization that he’s unsure lawmakers will be able to overcome.
The feedback from GOP lawmakers is reminiscent of earlier criticism from the caucus about the governor, who they’ve claimed has made the call for reform without meaningfully engaging with the legislature about how to get it done.
According to the Republican chairman of an important Senate committee, he plans to bring up legislation to legalize marijuana for adult use in Pennsylvania this year. This would make Pennsylvania only the 25th state to do so. He also thinks that more of his GOP colleagues could get on board with the reform soon than have in the past.
The devil lies in the detail. While legalization activists and observers consider Pennsylvania to be one of the more likely states this year to pass an recreational marijuana law, there are still many details that need attention. One lawmaker has floated a relatively simple bill to decriminalize personal possession, while two others plan to introduce more sweeping legislation that would legalize through a state-run system of stores.
Laughlin last spring introduced a bill meant to remove state barriers to medical marijuana patients carrying firearms. Although the bill never moved forward, Laughlin said recently in an interview that the political support for marijuana legalization has grown.
The senator said an event last May that the state is “getting close” to legalizing marijuana, but the job will only get done if House and Senate leaders sit down with the governor and “work it out.”
Reps. Dan Frankel (D) and Rick Krajewski (D) announced in December that they planned to file legalization legislation, emphasizing that there’s a “moral obligation” to repair harms of criminalization while also raising revenue as neighboring state markets mature.
Frankel stated that sponsors hope to vote on the legislation “sometime in early spring.” However, it remains to be seen whether or not the legislature will support the effort to end the cannabis prohibition.
A separate decriminalization measure, meanwhile, from Pennsylvania Rep. Danilo Burgos (D), would make simple possession of cannabis a summary offense punishable by a $100 fine without the threat of jail time. Low-level possession of cannabis is currently a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 day in prison, or a maximum fine of $500.
Additionally, in September, bipartisan Reps. Aaron Kaufer (R) and Kinkead formally introduced a bipartisan marijuana legalization bill, alongside 15 other cosponsors.
In July, the governor said his administration and lawmakers would “come back and continue to fight” for marijuana legalization and other policy priorities that were omitted from budget legislation he signed into law that month.
As for medical marijuana, the governor in October signed a bill to correct an omission in a law that unintentionally excluded dispensaries from state-level tax relief for the medical marijuana industry.
About three months after the legislature approved the underlying budget bill that Shapiro signed containing tax reform provisions as a partial workaround to a federal ban on tax deductions for cannabis businesses, the Pennsylvania legislature passed corrective legislation.
Separately, at a Black Cannabis Week event hosted recently by the Diasporic Alliance for Cannabis Opportunities (DACO) in October, Street and Reps. Chris Rabb (D), Amen Brown (D), Darisha Parker (D) and Napoleon Nelson (D) joined activists to discuss their legislative priorities and motivations behind advancing legalization in the Keystone State.
Other lawmakers have also emphasized the urgency of legalizing as soon as possible given regional dynamics, while signaling that legislators are close to aligning House and Senate proposals.
As for cannabis and gun ownership, Laughlin had been looking at the issue for more than a year before introducing last year’s bill, writing last February to the state’s acting police commissioner to “strongly encourage” he review a federal ruling that the U.S. government’s ban on gun ownership by people who use marijuana is unconstitutional.
In the years since, other federal court cases have challenged the constitutionality the federal gun ban. A federal judge in El Paso, for example, recently ruled that the ongoing ban on gun ownership by habitual marijuana users was unconstitutional in the case of a defendant who earlier pleaded guilty to the criminal charge. A court in El Paso allowed the defendant to withdraw his plea, and then ordered the dismissal of the criminal charge.
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Mike Latimer is the photographer.
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