A congressional lawmaker representing Washington, D.C. tells Marijuana Moment that she’s “really disappointed” that Democratic House and Senate majorities failed to remove an ongoing rider blocking the District from allowing recreational cannabis commerce as part of an omnibus spending bill that was released on Tuesday.
While advocates and stakeholders have largely focused on the exclusion of cannabis banking language from the appropriations legislation, the fact that the D.C. rider was maintained in the final deal stings differently, especially considering that both the House and Senate had omitted it from their respecting spending bills that advanced earlier this year.
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said in a phone interview with Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that she didn’t necessarily fault Democratic leadership—saying she’s “afraid they had no choice” given GOP opposition, and that “the final bill had to have the agreement of both sides.”
“Insisting on a specific provision would not have gotten us across” to passing the spending package, the congresswoman said.
But with Democrats in control of both chambers and the presidency, it’s a frustrating setback for advocates.
Norton said that she is “really disappointed that we were not able to get this rider off since we control the House,
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