Politics
Pennsylvania House And Senate Marijuana Legalization Supporters Blame One Another For Lack Of Coordination On Bill
After a Pennsylvania House-passed bill to legalize marijuana sales through state-run shops was defeated in the GOP-controlled Senate, lawmakers from both chambers who support the reform are trading criticisms about each other’s roles in the stalled push to end prohibition.
Rep. Dan Frankel (D)—sponsor of the House measure alongside Rep. Rick Krajewski (D) that failed in the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Tuesday—took a hit at 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.
“It’s a fact, not an opinion. The House’s advancement of HB 1200 to the Senate wasn’t a genuine legalization effort but political theater,” Laughlin said. “I haven’t received any discussions from House leadership or bill sponsors.”
“I remain committed to crafting a cannabis bill that can pass the Senate and be signed into law to benefit all Pennsylvanians,” he said. “That starts with honest dialogue from everyone involved, including House leadership and the governor, to develop a realistic approach, not political theater.”
At the committee hearing on Tuesday, the senator said he “really expected a little bit of back-and-forth discussions and work on these bills if we are going to truly put a product on the governor’s desk.”
“We are not going to get there with this model, at least,” he said. “The state, acting as a buyer, will limit consumer choice and drive consumers out of state to neighboring legal markets like Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Ohio. The state will outsource significant revenues, similar to the dynamic experience that we now have with our alcohol system.”
Laughlin, who has previously sponsored separate bipartisan legalization legislation, did not respond to a request for comment from Marijuana Moment about what he’s done to proactively reach out to House leadership on a path forward for the reform.
Krajewski, meanwhile, said during a press conference following the House floor vote last week that, “if the Senate was serious about passing a cannabis bill, they would have sent us one.”
“But we sent a bill forward,” he said. “If the Senate is serious about passing cannabis legislation, we now have a vehicle for which we can have negotiations about.”
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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