With any luck, the Garden State will getting a whole lot greener in 2019. This week, New Jersey lawmakers are set to discuss a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana use as early as January. At a public hearing on Monday, November 26th, the State assembly and senate committees will debate the legislation, which would legalize the possession of one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 years or older, and hear from constituents before taking a legislative vote.
A total of three separate cannabis bills were approved at the hearing: one to fully legalize marijuana, one to expand the state’s existing medical cannabis program and another that would create a system to speed up expungements for people who’ve been convicted for low-level marijuana offenses.
Legislation that would legalize adult use marijuana in New Jersey gained the approval of a Senate committee today. Sponsored by Senator Nicholas Scutari and Senate President Steve Sweeney, the bill, S2703, would legalize the possession and use of limited amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and older and create an organizational and regulatory system to oversee the operations of the business.
"This will stimulate the economy of New Jersey like nothing ever has before," S2703 sponsor Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-22nd District, said prior to voting. “We’re on the precipice of a historic event here, starting something and creating jobs like no other legislature has done before. We have that opportunity."
The measure still has to go before a floor vote in both chambers, after which Gov. Phil Murphy would have to sign the bill.
This is starting now. Roll Call.
I will update along below new info will be posted with time stamps. If you want to chime in I'll share some nuggets on Twitter but I invite everyone to login here and post your comments below. I will work to answer any questions you guys have.
Here's a link to listen along - https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/mp.asp?M=A/ENCODER-4&S=2018L
Discussing Senate Bill 2703 and Assembly ammendments
Submitted by bluntboy on Mon, 11/26/2018 - 11:03
Democratic leaders in the New Jersey legislature say they are “real close” to holding hearings on the legalization of adult-use cannabis, NJBIZ.com reports.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-District 3) said on Monday he has been coordinating the issue with Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-District 22), the leading cannabis advocate in New Jersey’s legislature.
Despite a complicated November schedule which includes the midterm elections, Sen. Scutari told reporters that he was eyeing November 26 for a cannabis legalization legislative hearing.
On the first day of October, Gov. Murphy predicted on Facebook Live that recreational marijuana use could be legal in New Jersey by Halloween.
"It's sooner than later … like Oct. 29," he said to a caller who asked a question asked repeatedly since Murphy said on the campaign trail a year ago that he would legalize marijuana as governor.
But that date might be tricky, since neither the state Senate nor the Assembly has scheduled committee votes or hearings, which typically are held before a bill comes to the floor.
But there is one potential stumbling block: a tax. Lawmakers are talking about a pretty hefty tax that they want to impose on the drug once it becomes available commercially.
Murphy and lawmakers say they're looking at Oct 29 as the day the state Legislature should pass a bill legalizing marijuana in New Jersey. It's not clear if the governor would actually sign it that day, or right afterward.
The entire Senate and Assembly Democratic caucus are scheduled to hold a meeting Tuesday morning aimed at ironing out the text of a marijuana bill ahead of a proposed Oct. 29 vote, according to Sen. Ron Rice, D-28th District.
Rice, who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus and has stood as a staunch opponent to the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, said lawmakers this morning will try to hammer out how to go forward with legalizing recreational marijuana.
Scutari, D-22nd District, is one of the state Legislature’s key advocates for legalizing recreational marijuana and a primary sponsor of the 120-page bill. He told NJBIZ on Thursday that he still believes New Jersey’s cannabis tax rate can be the “lowest in the country.”
Different drafts of the bill have called for a tax rate as low as 10 percent, or for the rate to be increased to 25 percent over a four-year period. Scutari said lawmakers have not agreed on a formal rate.