Two top lawmakers, State Senate President Stephen Sweeney and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, are now expecting to get something voted on – and passed – by the end of the year, Patch has learned.
The lawmakers apparently still need to iron out their differences with what the Murphy administration wants. It wasn't exactly clear at press time what all those differences were, but Patch has learned that Sweeney and Murphy differ on the amount of the tax. Sweeney has said that the tax should be no more than 12 percent.
State legislative leaders on Monday brushed aside a previous plan to vote on legalizing recreational pot in New Jersey by Oct. 29.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin called marijuana legalization a “seismic” shift in public policy and not a thing that can be rushed. Complicating the issue further, Coughlin said, is that legalization would create a whole new industry in the state.
Making pot legal was a campaign promise of Gov. Phil Murphy.
There won’t be a vote to authorize adult-use recreational marijuana in the New Jersey legislature on Oct. 29.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney admitted he didn’t the votes during a press conference on an unrelated topic Monday.
“The administration has got to be a part of this. This is a big lift,” said Sweeney. “I need help. I need to get to 21.”
Twenty-one is the number of votes needed to pass a bill in the Senate; 41 votes are needed in the Assembly.
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.
Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey lawmakers finally had a date in mind for passing what could be the biggest legislation in years: marijuana legalization. But will it happen?
Lawmakers are starting to hedge their bets a little now that investigations into an alleged sex assault committed by a former Murphy staffer have been launched.
Lawmakers privately told nj.com they believe it's possible the work required to launch the investigations could push back the marijuana bill, which they planned to vote on by Oct. 29.
It's mid-October, and one of the priorities since January for Gov. Phil Murphy and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney -- passing a law legalizing marijuana use for people 21 and older in New Jersey -- is still the subject of painstaking private negotiations.
This week, Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Murphy, a fellow Democrat, engaged in some trans-Atlantic finger-pointing over who is responsible for the delay.
Murphy says there will be several pieces to the legalization bill, including expanding medical marijuana coverage and legalizing some recreational use.
"Most importantly this is social justice. We have the largest white/non-white gap of persons incarcerated in America. Low end drug crimes are not the only reason, but it's a big driving part of the reason. We aren't inventing marijuana, it exists right now,” Murphy said.
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.
With State Senate President Stephen Sweeney setting Oct. 29 for the state Senate to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana, it seems New Jersey is closer to becoming the next state where cannabis is legal.
Meanwhile, the Garden State has the chance to change the landscape of medical marijuana -- taking lessons from the success and failures of states out west -- and is on the verge of creating one of the most comprehensive, deliberate, and successful programs in the nation.
This effort should proceed without delay.