Pennsylvania budget doesn’t include adult-use marijuana legalization

Pennsylvania state lawmakers passed an annual budget without the adult-use marijuana legalization – and accompanying revenue – that the governor had planned for.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $48.3 billion state spending proposal, pitched in February, included $250 million from adult-use sales taxed at 20%.

That’s tax revenue the state could access, if only lawmakers would act and pass longstanding bipartisan legalization proposals.

But adult-use legalization was not included in the final $47.6 billion state budget that passed last week, nearly two full weeks beyond a June 30 deadline, Harrisburg-based Spotlight PA noted.

Legal recreational cannabis – now a fixture in every state bordering Pennsylvania except for West Virginia – was part of a revenue package that also included skill games.

The latter are pastimes played on digital machines that require strategic decisions – a key distinction from gambling.

State-run marijuana model at issue

However, Pennsylvania’s lawmakers could come to terms on neither.

In the case of legalizing adult use, Democrats and existing medical marijuana operators fell out over a Democratic proposal under which cannabis would be sold in state-run stores, similar to alcohol.

But Republicans, who control the state Senate, are generally opposed across the board, even though several GOP lawmakers have co-sponsored legalization proposals that remain stymied.

Some lawmakers vowed to revisit the proposal when Pennsylvania’s legislative sessions resume in two months.

‘Losing money’ to neighboring states

In the meantime, advocates had harsh words for the inaction.

“The legislature left a critical issue behind as they crafted a budget that did not include adult-use cannabis,” Brit Crampsie, a spokesperson for cannabis advocacy organization Responsible PA, said in a statement.

“An adult-use market can bring more than a billion dollars to the state in its first year, and every moment Pennsylvania waits to legalize, we are losing money and business to the 90 percent of our neighboring states who have chosen to act.”