The hurdle for legal marijuana in New Jersey seems to keep getting higher.
Gov. Phil Murphy has repeatedly vowed to legalize adult recreational pot use in the Garden State and told state lawmakers he'd like them to pass a bill by January 2019.
But just last week, the Democratic governor for the first time hedged over whether they could hit that deadline. And Democrats who lead the state Legislature are less certain this will get worked out during state budget negotiations in June -- the traditional month for horse-trading in Trenton.
"It's too early to tell" if they'll have a bill passed by January, Murphy told reporters last week.
"There's no reason to believe we can't get there," Murphy added, striking his usual optimistic tone. "This is not a rolling-off-the-log one, though. This is not one you get overnight. This takes time. We're in that process right now."
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney -- the second-most-powerful elected official in New Jersey after Murphy -- offered a tougher assessment on the lack of progress. He even doled out blame for himself and members of his caucus.
"I don't know if we're going to be able to get it done in the budget session," Sweeney, D-Gloucester, told NJ Advance Media. "I was actually hoping to get it done in the first 100 days (of Murphy's administration). But we have work to do."