Virginia’s two chambers have given preliminary approval to plans to legalize the retail sale of marijuana in Virginia. There are still significant differences between the competing plans, and lawmakers will have to work out these differences before submitting any bill to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
In addition, the measures to resentencing those with previous cannabis convictions as well as preventing legal marijuana use from denying parental rights of visitation and custody have also been advanced ahead of this week’s crossover deadline.
On Monday, SB 448 was approved by voice vote as the Senate’s first step in approving the legal sale measures. Tuesday is the final vote that will send the measure formally to the House of Delegates.
Earlier that day, on third reading, the House voted 52 to 48 for the final passage of HB 698, a competing bill dealing with legal sales. Only one Republican, Del., voted in favor of the bill. Chris Obenshain voted for the proposal.
After the final Senate vote this week, the bills will be sent to the other chamber where they are expected to amend them further, setting up a likely bi-cameral negotiation in a conference panel.
Both proposals would allow for legal and regulated marijuana sales to begin next year. However, there are significant differences in the timing, licensing, taxation, social equity, criminal punishments, and whether or not cultivators could grow cannabis outdoors. Some advocates are divided over the differences, but supporters still hope to reach a consensus.
Del. The sponsor of the House Bill, , Paul Krizek, (D), closed comments before the second reading passage last week, with a message for Senate legislators “who share my conviction that it is now time for the $3 billion illegal marijuana market in the state to be challenged by a safe and tested product.”
He said: “I understand that there are many aspects of the bill with which you may not be comfortable.” “But I am committed to working with everyone in this body and you to find a bill that is bipartisan as we continue to work on this complex topic.”
Virginia has already made it legal for adults to use, possess and grow cannabis in limited quantities. This is the result of a Democrat proposal that was approved by legislators in 2021. After Republicans gained control of both the House of Representatives and the Governor’s Office later that same year, they blocked the necessary reenactment for a retail sales regulatory framework. Since then, illegal stores have opened to meet the demand of consumers.
Youngkin has not explicitly said he’ll veto a retail marijuana proposal, but he did indicate last month that he a data-google-interstitial=”false” href=”https://www.marijuanamoment.net/gop-virginia Governor does not have any interest in legalizing marijuana sales under new democrat led bills/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank>doesn’t The governor hasn’t explicitly stated that he will veto a proposal to legalize retail marijuana sales, but he did indicate last month that he does not have “anyinterest” in doing so under the Democrat’s plans.
HB698 , as passed by the House , would allow medical marijuana operators to open retail stores on January 1, 2025, earlier than the Senate bill. In order to be eligible for an early opening, medical operators would have to pay $400,000 each to six microbusinesses as part of a proposed accelerator programme.
Under the House proposal cannabis products would be subject to a tax of 9 percent, and outdoor cultivation will be prohibited.
In its current form, the Senate Bill, sponsored by Sen. Aaron R. Rouse(D), would not give any license applicant a head-start on adult use sales. Retailers will open in 2025, after a general licensing and application process. The maximum tax rate would be about twice as high as the House measure or 17.5 percent. This would include a state excise of 12.5 percent, a local tax of up to 3.5 percent that municipalities can impose, and a 1.125 percent portion from Virginia’s sales taxes that fund K-12 education.
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The Senate proposal allows for outdoor cultivation by smaller licensed growers, but requires larger cultivators to grow indoors.
Both bills have undergone significant revisions during their passage through the respective chambers. Advocates have sometimes changed their alliances when provisions of the bills have changed.
Chelsea Higgs Wise, an advocate for equity who initially supported the Senate bill, now supports the House proposal. She said the House legislation would foster a more fair and equitable industry by paying microbusinesses through a licensing process that prioritized people with past cannabis convictions. This is in contrast to the Senate bill which, according to her, “lacks real equity” and uses the talk of equal starting without acknowledging the fact that minority businesses will never be on the same line as mainstream businesses.
Jason Blanchette is the president of the Virginia Cannabis Association and he supports the Senate bill. He said that the House bill’s early start would unfairly benefit large out-of-state medical marijuana operators and that its prohibition on outdoor growing would be prohibitively costly for small operators.
Blanchette, however, told Marijuana Moment that he is hopeful that lawmakers and advocates can come up with a proposal to win approval from the legislature.
He said that there is “definitely” a version of the bills that Republicans would vote for, and that “the trick is to figure out which version it is.”
JM Pedini has repeatedly encouraged Virginia lawmakers to pass a bill that would expeditiously open legal retailers, and be straightforward enough to “appealing” to the Governor.
Pedini stated last week that lawmakers would likely make adjustments to each bill to meet their policy preferences after they move the bills to the opposing chambers. This means the final issues will be decided in a conference panel.
They told Marijuana Moment that after crossover, each chamber will amend the other’s bills with their own versions. The real work is done in the conference committee. At that point, conferees must decide whether these bills are just messaging or if they want to send Governor Youngkin legislation that he will consider not vetoing.
The Senate narrowly passed a marijuana-related bill on Monday, SB696. This would allow people who have been convicted of cannabis crimes in the past to be resentenced. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Angelia William Graves (D), mandates that those incarcerated on marijuana charges will receive automatic resentencing and their punishments will be adjusted.
People who are still serving prison sentences for certain felony crimes involving possession or manufacture of marijuana, committed before July 1, 2021, will need a resentencing by the end 2024. Individuals who have been convicted of cannabis-related felony crimes will need to schedule their resentencing by April 1, 2020.
The bill was passed on third reading in the Senate by a vote of 20-19, along party lines.
The full Senate unanimously approved 115 last week. This would prohibit the state from using only marijuana as evidence of abuse of neglect, and clarify that the “lawful consumption or possession” of state-regulated drugs, including cannabis “shall not be used as a base to restrict custody or visiting unless other facts prove that such possession or use is not in best interests of the child.”
This measure also provides that drug testing for child custody and visitation issues “shall not include testing for any substance allowed for lawful adult use” under the state alcohol, cannabis and drugs laws.
Some are hopeful that the state will be able to pass cannabis sales legislation this year , after previous attempts have failed. It appears that, based on the results of the floor votes held this week in Virginia, supporters will not be able muster enough Republican backing for either bill to override a governor’s veto.
Youngkin, when he first became elected, said that he “was not against” commercial sales. He said that there were some Democratic “non starters” in the earlier 2021 legislation, such as provisions requiring labor unions for marijuana businesses. And he wanted address concerns from law-enforcement. But he indicated that he was generally able to support a bill.
Some have tempered that expectation at the start of the new fiscal year. They predict the governor will veto all legal sales legislation sent to him by lawmakers.
A sales bill did advance through the Democratic-controlled Senate last session, but it stalled in committee in the House, which at the time had a GOP majority.
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The post Virginia House And Senate Move Marijuana Bills Forward, But Key Differences Still Remain first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
