The House has not approved H.170, a bill that would legalize adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana or two mature plants. A floor vote on the measure was postponed last month amid uncertainty about the level of support, and the bill is with the House Human Services Committee for more review.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, said Tuesday that “barring a miracle” legalization is not likely to pass the Legislature this year.
Ashe said the Senate hoped to have several weeks to work on a House-led legalization proposal. He indicated that many in the Senate favor a regulation and taxation model, which the body passed twice last year only to see it die in the House.
At this point, the timing in the session is a challenge, he said.
At the end of this week, Senate committees that meet in the morning, including the Judiciary Committee, will cease meeting for the year — a sign that the legislative session is nearing its end.
“With every day that passes it’s much harder to see that H.170 as it’s been currently constructed could be the bill the Senate feels comfortable with,” Ashe said, noting the Senate has not had a chance to take comment from the public.
He and others are considering options for moving forward, including potentially looking to the Senate Judiciary Committee to introduce a new bill to regulate marijuana. That legislation could be voted on by the Senate and sent to the House to be reviewed in the second half of the biennium.
Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, who chairs the Senate Government Operations Committee and has been a proponent of legalization for some time, said that although the House appeared poised early this year to hit the ground running on a marijuana bill, action has stalled.
“I don’t know if they didn’t have their sneakers on or what, but they fell somewhere in the middle and didn’t do what we expected them to do, so we didn’t get anything,” White said.
The senators were dubious of the House proposal, saying it does not do much to address the black market, driving under the influence of marijuana and other issues.
House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said the House must do its own work on the issue.
“We are two separate bodies,” Krowinski said. “They have the authority to go out and write and create their own bills, and we have our work to do in the House to write and create our own legislation.”
The House Human Services Committee heard more testimony Tuesday on efforts to educate about marijuana and prevent youth from using it.
“At some point it’ll come back to the floor,” Krowinski said. “When it’s ready.”
