A key Pennsylvania lawmaker says he’s optimistic that marijuana legalization legislation could be approved as early as this summer, calling the policy change “inevitable” as the commonwealth is “bleeding out revenue” to other states.
Rep. Dan Frankel (D), who chairs the House Health Committee, spoke about the state of play around cannabis reform efforts in an interview with KDKA Radio that aired on Tuesday, stressing that Pennsylvania is now “literally surrounded by states that have legal adult-use cannabis,” including Ohio, New York and Maryland.
To address that policy disconnect, support criminal justice reform and raise revenue, the legislator said he will be “putting out a proposal” to enact legalization “in the next few weeks.”
“There’s so many reasons to do this, and I’m really hopeful,” Frankel said, adding that he feels it’s feasible that the legislature could advance a legalization bill as part of the budget reconciliation process that must wrap up by the end of June.
“We have a budget that has to get passed by June 30. This would be a significant revenue component. And, you know, I think that could be part of that discussion,” he said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who again included a legalization proposal
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