Pennsylvania GOP leaders respond to the Democratic Governor’s recent budget request that calls for marijuana legalization. If you wish to see the reform implemented, you must come meaningfully to the table and work with legislators to craft an agreement.
A top Democrat from the House said there is still some splintering in the caucus over the best way to move forward with a regulated marijuana market.
After Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) budget speech on Tuesday—where he called on the legislature to enact “long overdue” cannabis reform by this summer, even if it seems “complicated”—several legislators on both sides of the aisle have weighed in on the prospect of legalization in the new session.
“The Governor needs to take the initiative on something.” Kim Ward (R), Senate President pro Tempore, said that the governor must take the initiative 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. After that, I will hold press conferences in all parts of the state.
Ward replied, “He must be the leader on some issue.” Ward asked, “What’s his priority?” What will he be doing to finish some of these things?
House Minority Leader Jesse Topper, (R), was also asked what he thought about the possibility of marijuana being included in various budget proposals by the Governor. 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.”
The Senator cited recent comments from Senate Majority leader Joe Pittman, who stated that there were logistical obstacles to legalization which he was unsure legislators would be able overcome.
He said that the issue was more of a “practicality issue” than one based on philosophy. In his remarks, he referred to the federal government’s continued prohibition against cannabis as well as the inability of the state to regulate the cannabis market effectively.
Pittman’s spokesperson declined to make any comments on whether cannabis reform would be passed, telling Spotlight PA only that strengthening communities and maintaining public safety are still of paramount importance for our caucus.
This feedback is similar to criticisms made by the GOP caucus in the past about the Governor, whom they claimed had called for reforms without engaging meaningfully with the Legislature about how it could be achieved.
Even though there is a greater interest among the Democrats to tackle marijuana legalization, questions remain about whether they can coalesce as a caucus around any specific reform path.
House Majority Speaker Matt Bradford, a Democrat, said that following his budget speech “there are real differences of opinion between our members” referring to the split views on different regulatory models.
He has also stated that it is the right time to reform marijuana laws this year.
He said, “Yes, we’re close in numbers, but we believe we can put our numbers together to show there is progress on the cannabis issue.”
In his two previous budget requests, the Governor has also called for cannabis legalization. He says that the Keystone State is losing out on a windfall in tax revenue to other states who already have legalized the drug.
Shapiro’s newest plan states that possession legalization would take place on July 1. The first controlled sales are expected to begin January 1, 2026.
The governor’s budget projects a $536.5 million windfall in marijuana tax revenue for the fiscal year—a significant increase from the $14.8 million that was estimated in his last budget request. This is primarily due to the newly proposed fee structure, which according to the governor matches other states’ legal markets.
The state would receive a portion of the revenue for programs promoting social equality, and the rest would go into the general fund.
Shapiro, who spoke on Tuesday, said: “I urge you to send me a bill legalizing adult-use marijuana and expunging the records of those convicted of nonviolent possession for small amounts of cannabis.”
Meanwhile, the new Republican state attorney general of Pennsylvania recently raised concerns about the “potential harm that could be caused criminally” by enacting the reform.
“From a policy perspective, what I can say is—and this is something that I said all throughout the campaign—regardless of what policy issue we’re talking about… you have to have voices from from from all parts of the community on this, and I would be remiss as a prosecutor and now as a chief law enforcement officer for Pennsylvania if I wasn’t a voice outlining the potential harm that could be caused criminally as a result of that,” Attorney General Dave Sunday (R) said.
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.
Dan Laughlin, a Republican senator who has been a supporter of cannabis reforms during previous sessions, is the chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee. He said that he expected the committee to be “one of the most actively-run in the State” for the new legislative session.
In response to the governor’s budget speech on Tuesday, Sen. Sharif Street (D) said, “I support the governor’s position on cannabis legalization—it’s long overdue.”
The senator who sponsored bipartisan proposals for legalization in previous sessions said, “This is all about justice, growth and the future of PA.” Stop criminalizing marijuana and create a market for legal cannabis that will benefit all Pennsylvanians. This revenue is needed. We need this revenue.
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, a longtime legalization advocate, last spring introduced a bill meant to remove state barriers to medical marijuana patients carrying firearms. This bill did not move forward but the lawmaker stated in an interview recently that the political backing for marijuana legalization is growing.
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, who is one of the sponsors for the bill, said that they hope it will be voted on “sometime during early spring”, though there are still questions about whether the Legislature would support his push to eliminate cannabis prohibition through the model of state-run sale he proposes.
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. Current law considers low-level cannabis possession a misdemeanor that can result in up to 30days of jail time, maximum $500 fine, or both.
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Additionally, in September, bipartisan Reps. Aaron Kaufer (R) and Emily Kinkead (D) 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.
Since that time, several federal court decisions have raised questions about the constitutionality and the 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. The man was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea. He also had the charges against him dismissed.
Bipartisan Senators Address Marijuana Industry Banking Challenges At Hearing Despite Chairman’s Focus On ‘Federally Legal’ Businesses
Brian Shamblen provided the photo.
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