(The Center Square) – Bipartisan discussions are continuing on the concept of a seven-member Cannabis Control Board which would oversee the sale of recreational adult-use marijuana in Pennsylvania, should that use be approved by the Legislature, a key senator said on Wednesday.
Republican Sen. Dan Laughlin of Erie County, whose chairmanship of the Senate Law & Justice Committee gives him a significant role, said the process would have to happen in two steps. First, he said, his bill establishing the board would have to be approved, and then a separate approval would have to be given to a different bill that lays out legalization itself.
He said he doubted those two things could happen this budget cycle.
Another key player, Democratic Rep. Dan Frankel of Pittsburgh, said in a separate interview he hopes recreational use will be approved in coming months. But Frankel, who chairs the House Health Committee, said it is a tremendously complex topic that “is going to take some negotiations between the two chambers and the governor.”
An unending flow of scientific findings indicate marijuana use causes various impairments and disorders. But nearby states already have approved recreational use and are pulling in lots of tax revenue, while Pennsylvania has a state budget deficit of about $5 billion.
Laughlin believes some Republicans would rather vote for legalization of marijuana than for a tax increase.
In his proposed budget for 2026-27, which begins July 1, Shapiro penciled in more than $729 million in potential revenue from the anticipated legalization of recreational marijuana.
Last year, a legalization bill cleared the state House on a Democratic-driven party-line vote of 102-101. It was voted down in Laughlin’s committee less than a week later.
A sticking point was the bill’s designation of the state Liquor Control Board as the agency to oversee the new industry.
On Wednesday, the prime sponsor of that bill, Democratic Rep. Rick Krajewski of Philadelphia, said in an interview he would have to see the language outlining a potential Cannabis Control Board before he could comment. The main thing, he said, is that the Senate has to pass something.
He equated the defeat of his bill in the Senate committee to a rejected offer.
“We await a counter-offer,” Krajewski said.
Frankel said virtually the same thing. “It would be encouraging to see anything come out of the Senate,” he said.
The Senate concluded a three-day session week Wednesday. It is scheduled to be back in Harrisburg for three days in early May, then will not return until early June.
On Wednesday, the marquee topic in the chamber was re-passing a concept it approved the previous year: banning biological males from participating in female school sports. An identical bill passed the Republican-controlled chamber last year, but in the Democratic-run House has been shunted from committee to committee without a vote.
Republican Sen. Scott Martin of Lancaster said the earlier bill has been “punted around like a hot potato” in the House. A Republican leader on the issue, Sen. Judy Ward of Blair County, said the point was to make sure female athletes had a “level playing field” in competition.
Democratic Sen. Lindsey Williams of Allegheny County said the measure amounted to bullying of children. Democrats also said it was a waste of time to pass a bill that had been passed previously.
The bill passed the Senate Wednesday in a 30-17 vote, with all Republicans present voting in favor. They were joined by Democratic Sens. Lisa Boscola of Northampton County, Marty Flynn of Lackawanna County, Nick Miller of Lehigh County, and Christine Tartaglione of Philadelphia.
Concerning marijuana, the state already has a medical sales infrastructure in place.
In his proposed 2026-27 budget, Shapiro’s estimate of new revenue of $729.4 million from anticipated legalization assumed a sales start date of Jan. 1, 2027. The vast majority of revenue he projected in the first fiscal year would come from license fees.
An important piece of the ongoing revenue stream, however, would be a 20% tax on the wholesale price of marijuana sold through the newly regulated framework.
