Wednesday marks the beginning of May, which means there’s only a month to go if state leaders want to realize their latest hope of passing a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey before the full frenzy of state budget season rolls around.
So what are the chances a vote will happen over the next 31 days? State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, New Jersey’s highest-ranking state lawmaker, pegs it at “50/50.”
“We’re trying,” Sweeney, D-Gloucester, told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “This is an area where the governor and I and the speaker are giving our best effort on it.”
Sweeney added that he, Gov. Phil Murphy, state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, and other leaders are currently “working on some language changes” to make the measure “more palatable” to lawmakers on the fence. He wouldn’t expound on the details.
One of the biggest issues facing marijuana legalization is a companion bill that would expunge the record of people in New Jersey who had been convicted of possessing up to 5 pounds of pot. Some lawmakers think that amount is too high. But changing it might cause other lawmakers to balk.