After compromising on legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour, Gov. Phil Murphy's administration is back on the same page — or at least a similar one — with Senate President Stephen Sweeney.
The newfound collaboration has cannabis entrepreneurs and advocates hopeful that a legal weed law could be enacted before the spring.
"We have the governor, the senate president and the assembly speaker in 100 percent agreement that we should end cannabis prohibition and establish an industry. And they’re in 95 percent agreement on how to do it," said New Jersey Cannabusiness Association President Scott Rudder, a former assemblyman. "I feel very confident that we're going to get this done in the coming weeks."
Murphy's administration is still at odds with Sweeney over the proposed tax rate for legal weed and control of the industry.
Murphy's 2018-19 budget called for a 25 percent tax rate on marijuana purchased at retail dispensaries. The most recent version of the marijuana legalization bill came with a 12 percent tax rate, the lowest in the country.