The author of the Assembly adult-use marijuana bill says she believes the state will legalize in 2020 and likely during the budget process.
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, said she met with the governor’s counsel in Albany this week.
“It was a very encouraging meeting,” she said. “He, from my understanding, does plan to add it to his budget again. There may or may not be some pieces of the conversation that he had with the five other governors, from a regional perspective, included and so I just await the opportunity to see what he puts forward and I feel pretty confident that we can make something happen this session.”
Peoples-Stokes acknowledged she also thought the legislation would pass year. However it got held up for several reasons.
There was some disagreement about how to disburse the new revenue the industry created. The assemblywoman wants to make sure a good portion of it goes toward communities that have been disenfranchised by previous criminal enforcement.
She also pointed out some Democratic state senators from Long Island seemed to get cold feet last year after the counties they represented preemptively opted out.
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