A bill to legalize marijuana in Minnesota could receive its final vote in the House as early as Wednesday now that a conference report has been finalized and signed.
Rep. Zack Stephenson (D), the measure’s House sponsor, said late on Tuesday that he signed the 320-page conference report that was processed by non-partisan legislative staff following the final meeting of bicameral negotiators on Monday.
The legislation needed to sit in the House for at least 12 hours after being signed before it could be taken up for a vote. Now that time has passed, and Stephenson says it’s “theoretically” possible that it could move on Wednesday—but he said it “almost certainly won’t happen that quickly” because budget bills are currently taking priority and that it’s more likely the legalization vote will happen later in the week—or even over the weekend.
If the House adopts the conference report it will then go to the Senate for a final vote.
If the measure does advance though both chambers again—which must happen by May 22 when the legislative session ends—it will be sent to the governor, who has committed to signing it.
The reason for the conference committee was that both the House- and Senate-passed cannabis legalization bills were separately amended over the course of a months-long committee process, so they needed to be unified before receiving final votes.
Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers point to the achievement on cannabis reform as a direct result of voters putting the party in the majority in both chambers after last year’s election.
The legislation that advanced through both chambers is an iteration of the 2021 House-passed bill from former Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D), who now serves as campaign chairman of the advocacy coalition MN is Ready.
Gov. Tim Walz (D) has called on supporters to join lawmakers and the administration in their push legalize marijuana this session, and he circulated an email blast in January that encourages people to sign a petition backing the reform.
Here are the main components of the final marijuana legalization bill, HF 100.
As of August 1, adults 21 and older could purchase and possess in public up to two ounces of cannabis and they would be allowed to cultivate up to eight plants at home, four of which could be mature. People could possess up to two pounds of marijuana in their residences.
Gifting up to two ounces of marijuana without remuneration between adults would be permitted.
Source: marijuanamoment.net
Photo Credit: GettyImages-Tinnakorn Jorruang
Categories: Minnesota, Government & Policy