Pennsylvania Governor Keeps Pushing For Marijuana Legalization As Top GOP Senator Rules Out Including It In Budget

A top Pennsylvania Republican says marijuana legalization will not be
included in the 2026 budget as lawmakers approach a deadline he expects
they will miss. But Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is still holding out hope that
negotiators can “get it done.”

With the budget due by a constitutionally mandated deadline of June 30,
legislators appear to be at an impasse on certain key issues, including the
governor’s request to legalize adult-use cannabis via the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) said he doesn’t see a path forward
for the reform on that schedule, however.

Shapiro, on the other hand, hasn’t quite thrown in the towel, saying at a
press briefing on Wednesday that “we all understand we have to compromise”
on a number of issues to reach a budget agreement.

“We also, I think, all understand the set of issues we have to work
through—and we’re going to continue to work through them,” he said. “We’re
each going to have to give a little bit. We’re going to make progress.
We’re going to get it done.”

The governor said that he doesn’t quite understand why GOP lawmakers
wouldn’t support enacting legalization given that, in the current policy
environment, Pennsylvanians are simply traveling to neighboring legal
states to buy cannabis while contributing tax revenue to those other
jurisdictions.

“Every state around us, with the exception of West Virginia, has
legalized,” Shapiro said, “and Pennsylvanians are driving into those states
in order to purchase cannabis legally—and pay taxes to those states so
those school kids get more money for their schools, their parks and roads
and bridges get repaired, their mass transit systems get funded, their
housing stock gets replenished.”

“I’m not sure why we want to do that for the good people of Ohio or New
York or Maryland or New Jersey, when we should be doing it for people here
in Pennsylvania,” the governor said. “I think it’s a competitiveness issue.
Its time has come… I hope we’re able to find a way to get that done.”

Responsible PA, an industry advocacy group backing legalization, said in
response to Pittman’s comments on omitting cannabis reform from the budget
that there’s “no viable path to passing a balanced budget without cannabis
revenue on the table.”

“There’s a funding gap with few realistic alternatives to close it. Not
only does the budget need cannabis revenue, but Pennsylvanians
overwhelmingly support it,” the group said. “Polling shows 68 percent of
voters back legalization—rising to 74 percent once they learn more about
the issue.”

“That support cuts across party lines, age groups, and every corner of the
Commonwealth,” they said. “The pressure is mounting. The time for delay and
posturing is over. The legislature must act now to legalize
cannabis—delivering what voters want while generating the revenue
Pennsylvania needs.”

Outside of the budget, the House did narrowly pass a marijuana legalization
bill that would have involved state-run shops, but it was quickly rejected
by a Senate committee.

Following that defeat, the governor said he still remained “hopeful” that
lawmakers could deliver a reform bill to his desk by a budget deadline at
the end of this month—and he urged the GOP-controlled Senate to “put their
ideas on the table.”

“We’ve had really good, honest dialogue about it,” the governor, who
separately criticized the Senate for abruptly derailing the House marijuana
legalization bill, said.

“Look, I think this is an issue of competitiveness,” he said. “Every state
around us, with the exception of West Virginia, has gotten it done. You go
visit some of these dispensaries along our border—in this case with
Maryland, [that] is probably the closest one here. Sixty percent of the
people walking into those dispensaries are from the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.”

Whether Pennsylvania legislators will advance legalization this session
remains to be seen. But two Democratic lawmakers—Sen. Sharif Street (D) and
Rep. Rick Krajewski (D)—recently said they’re aiming to reach a compromise
and pass reform legislation before the budget deadline.

Also, last month Sen. Marty Flynn (D) announced his intent to file a new
bill to legalize marijuana in the state, calling on colleagues to join him
on the measure.

While the House legislation Krajewski sponsored alongside Rep. Dan Frankel
(D) was rejected in a Senate committee following its expedited passage
through the House along party lines, Street said he’s “cautiously
optimistic we’re going to be able to revive the bill and amend it and move
forward with a work product that allows us to get a bill on the governor’s
desk and realize revenue.”

That said, Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who has sponsored legalization
legislation with Street, recently seemed to suggest that lawmakers should
pump the brakes on the push to enact the policy change amid resistance to
reform within his caucus and instead pass a bill to create a new regulatory
body that can begin overseeing medical cannabis and hemp while preparing to
eventually handle the adult-use market as well.

“I remain committed to crafting a cannabis bill that can pass the Senate
and be signed into law to benefit all Pennsylvanians,” Laughlin said. “That
starts with honest dialogue from everyone involved, including House
leadership and the governor, to develop a realistic approach–not political
theater.”

Following the Senate committee vote, lawmakers from both chambers who
support legalization have been trading criticisms about each other’s roles
in the stalled push to end prohibition.

Krajewski, for example, recently wrote in a Marijuana Moment op-ed that Senate
Republicans who killed his House-passed cannabis legalization bill are
“stuck in their prohibitionist views of the past” and are “out of touch
with the will of our Commonwealth.”

Prior to that vote, Pennsylvania’s Republican attorney general said that
while he doesn’t currently support the House-passed marijuana legalization
bill, he’s open to changing his mind about the policy change after
continuing to review the details.

For what it’s worth, a recent poll found that Pennsylvania voters say they favor
a model where cannabis is sold by licensed private businesses, rather than
through a system of state-run stores.

The governor has repeatedly called for adult-use marijuana legalization.
However, he hasn’t endorsed the specific idea of having a state-controlled
model.

Rep. Abby Major (R)—who is sponsoring another forthcoming legalization bill that
envisions a traditional private sales model alongside Rep. Emily Kinkead
(D)—said during the House floor debate on HB 1200 that she stands opposed
to the competing bill, emphasizing that she disagrees with the state-run
stores proposal.

While Democrats control the House and governor’s office, they will still
need to reach a deal with the GOP-controlled Senate to effectuate change.
And in addition to the conflicting perspectives among pro-legalization
legislators, another potential barrier to reform is exactly that political
dynamic.

Regardless of which direction Pennsylvania lawmakers do—or don’t—go on
marijuana legalization this session, a survey released in April shows a
majority of adults in the state support the reform—and opposition to the
policy change has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the last decade.

Kinkead has made the case in another recent interview that legalizing
cannabis in Pennsylvania will help the state mitigate public health and
safety concerns associated with the illicit market, including the fact that
unregulated products can be laced with fentanyl.

The lawmaker previously introduced a separate bipartisan marijuana
legalization bill, alongside 15 other cosponsors, last September. It did
not advance, however.

Meanwhile, Laughlin recently called for the creation of a state “legacy”
fund, using tax revenue from adult-use marijuana sales and gaming to make
long-term investments in the Commonwealth’s economy.

The senator argued that, beyond using any resulting tax revenue to fund
day-to-day projects and public services, the state should earmark a portion
of those tax dollars for a fund to “provide a sustainable source of
prosperity that lasts for generations.”

Another GOP Pennsylvania senator, Sen. Gene Yaw (R), is backing the push to
legalize marijuana in the commonwealth, pointing out that, historically,
prohibition “has not turned out well,” noting the country’s experience with
alcohol criminalization.

Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) recently said that Democrats
are ready to pass a marijuana legalization bill this session, but that the
party “will need Republican support” to get the job done—adding that it
will be a “heavy lift.”

Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the
reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, owing in large part to
GOP opposition. But not all Republican members are against the policy
change—and one recently said she felt her party should seize the
“opportunity to snatch” the issue from Democrats.

Separately in March, the Pennsylvania House approved a bill sponsored by
Frankel that’s meant to strengthen safety standards and oversight of the
state’s medical marijuana program as lawmakers work to advance adult-use
legalization.

While Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program was enacted nearly a decade
ago, lawmakers say the measure, which now heads to the Senate, is necessary
to improve testing compliance, product audits and lab inspections, among
other aspects of the industry.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers recently introduced a bill
that would allow farmers and other small agriculture operators to sell
marijuana they cultivate to existing growers and and processors if the
state moves to legalize adult-use cannabis.

Separately, an independent Pennsylvania agency is projecting more tax
dollars to be generated from adult-use marijuana sales compared to what the
governor’s office has estimated, although it expects significantly less
overall revenue from cannabis legalization due to differing views on
licensing fees.

Pennsylvania officials have also launched a new survey that invites legal
marijuana businesses across the country to provide information about their
operations to help the state better understand the cannabis industry as
lawmakers consider enacting adult-use legalization this session.


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Also, in a video interview released in March, the governor emphasized that the
state is “losing out” to others that have already enacted adult-use
legalization, while maintaining a policy that’s enriched the illicit market.

“I think it’s an issue of freedom and liberty. I mean, if folks want to
smoke, they should be able to do so in a safe and legal way,” he said. “We
should shut down the black market—and, by the way, every state around us is
doing it. Pennsylvanians are driving to those other states and paying taxes
in those other states.”

The state’s agriculture secretary separately told lawmakers that he’s fully
confident that his department is in a “really good” position to oversee an
adult-use marijuana program if lawmakers act.

Meanwhile, in February, top Pennsylvania police and health officials told
lawmakers they are prepared to implement marijuana legalization if the
legislature moves forward with the reform—and that they stand ready to work
together as the details of legislation to achieve it are crafted.

Amid the growing calls for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, a GOP
state senator said prohibition has been a “disaster,” and a regulated sales
model for cannabis—similar to how alcohol and tobacco are handled—could
serve as an effective alternative.

A Republican Pennsylvania senator also recently defended the push to
legalize and regulate marijuana, calling it “the most conservative stance”
on the issue.

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*Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.*

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