HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is again calling on lawmakers to legalize recreational marijuana, pitching it as a crucial new source of revenue as Pennsylvania’s savings dwindle.
Doing what 24 other states — including most of the commonwealth’s neighbors — have done will bring in $1.3 billion in the first five years, his administration estimates.
“I know some are going to say it’s complicated, but it’s been talked about for years,” Shapiro told lawmakers in his budget address Tuesday. “And just in the last two years, Ohio legalized, Maryland legalized, and we keep falling further behind.”
Legalizing marijuana in Pennsylvania may be complicated, but it’s also a simple numbers game: Shapiro needs a majority of lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled state House and GOP-led state Senate to get on board.
There appears to be robust support in the lower chamber, though Democrats are still working to reach a consensus on how the state should structure the industry.
But in the upper chamber, many lawmakers — including key members of Republican leadership — remain skeptical.
Just three members of the 11-person state Senate committee through which a legalization bill would likely have to pass told Spotlight PA they support the idea. Another three said they were skeptical or opposed, while four others declined to comment or did not reply.
The remaining member, who holds the highest leadership position in the state Senate, put the ball in Shapiro’s court.
Supporters include state Sens. Dan Laughlin (R., Erie) and Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia), who plan to reintroduce a bill that would allow medical marijuana companies to start making recreational sales.
Laughlin, one of the GOP’s staunchest advocates for recreational marijuana, newly chairs the chamber’s Law and Justice Committee, where bills to legalize adult-use cannabis are typically sent for consideration.
In addition to Laughlin, two Democrats on that committee — Marty Flynn of Lackawanna County and Wayne Fontana of Allegheny County — told Spotlight PA they would support legalization.
Republican state Sens. Frank Farry (Bucks), Tracy Pennycuick (Montgomery), and Devlin Robinson (Allegheny) said they have public safety concerns.
“I don’t want to be walking down the street with my kids and see someone smoking weed,” Farry said.
Pennycuick called herself “not there yet” on the issue. She said questions about how legalization would impair driving ability and how the government plans on testing cannabis usage are her primary reasons for hesitation.
“I don’t want to put individual safety at risk for tax dollars,” Pennycuick said.
Four other state senators — Lisa Boscola (D., Northampton), Dawn Keefer (R., York), Joe Picozzi (R., Philadelphia), and Christine Tartaglione (D., Philadelphia) — either declined to comment or did not reply.
Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), who is also a voting member of the committee, has long opposed recreational legalization. At a news briefing following the governor’s budget address Tuesday, Ward said that she wants to see a proposal from Shapiro.
“If [Shapiro] wants something done, he needs to lead on it,” Ward said. “He can’t throw an idea out there, which he did last year, and say, ‘Let the legislature figure it out, I’ll sign it.’”
A lack of committee support is why Mike Regan, a former state senator from York County who led the panel in recent years, didn’t bring up a legalization bill despite his own support, he told Spotlight PA.
That may also influence Laughlin, who did not commit to calling up his own bill during the session.
Should a recreational legalization bill pass through committee, a chamber’s majority leader must decide whether to call it up for a floor vote. That would likely be another hurdle in the state Senate.
While Democrats who lead the state House have said they are willing to consider legalization, Republican Senate leaders have not committed to the issue.
Last session, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said he had reservations about the health impacts of legalization and believed that the issue should be decided at a federal level.
In a new statement to Spotlight PA, Pittman’s spokesperson declined to comment on whether the caucus will consider the issue this session, adding that “strengthening communities and ensuring public safety continue to be of paramount importance to our Caucus.”
Regan, the former GOP state senator, said he doesn’t think Senate Republicans’ opposition is “hardcore.” In his opinion, the “lynchpin” of where they will fall on the issue “is going to be economics.”
Republican lawmakers have been sounding the alarm about looming budget shortfalls, noting repeatedly that the state is running a structural deficit, in which it spends more every year than it makes in tax revenue.
In a recent report, the commonwealth’s Independent Fiscal Office projected that the state is on track to mostly drain both its budget reserves and its rainy day fund by the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Shapiro’s new budget proposes tapping surplus and rainy day money while also leaning on new revenue sources including legal marijuana.
His proposal asks the state legislature to agree to a 20% tax on wholesale cannabis products, the same rate he proposed last year. The sales and use tax on retail sales, coupled with the tax on the wholesale purchase of cannabis products, will bring in $27 million in its first year, according to Shapiro, along with an additional $509.5 million in one-time licensing fees.
Shapiro has not endorsed a specific legalization structure, though administration officials said he would like to see the state agriculture and health departments oversee the regulation of recreational sales.
Democratic supporters in the Pennsylvania House are split between selling cannabis in state-owned stores similar to Fine Wine & Good Spirits, and allowing independent sellers to seek state licenses.
State Reps. Dan Frankel (D., Allegheny) and Rick Krajewski (D., Philadelphia) plan to propose a “hybrid model” that would create state-owned stores.
Both Frankel — who chairs the House committee that would deal with legalization — and Krajewski told Spotlight PA that their primary goal is to craft a bill that all members of their caucus can agree on. Krajewski added that some members still aren’t convinced about “legalization generally” or have concerns about the “proliferation of dispensaries.”
“Can I say to you today that we have something that has full support, [with] the numbers we need to get something done? No,” Krajewski said.
In recent sessions, state Rep. David Delloso (D., Delaware) has introduced legalization bills that would create state stores to sell marijuana, though his proposals have gotten little traction. He plans to reintroduce a version this session, noting that he hasn’t coordinated with Frankel and Krajewski.
State Rep. Emily Kinkead (D., Allegheny) also said she plans to reintroduce a bill that would create an independent regulatory board to give out permits to sellers.
Kinkead said she’s “communicating with Frankel to figure out which path to go down” regarding her legalization bill.
Delloso said that he has “full faith and confidence” in his caucus and leadership, but wanted to see the final text of Frankel and Krajewski’s bill.
His primary goal, he said, is to make sure Pennsylvania gets as much revenue from legalization as possible. He mentioned that his bill might be seen as “too restrictive” to business by some colleagues to pass through the upper chamber, but cautioned that any legalization bill approved by the state House shouldn’t make too many concessions.
“No one gets everything,” Delloso said. “But don’t negotiate with yourself.”
Legalizing weed is again a priority for PA Gov. Josh Shapiro, but opposition remains in the state Senate.
