Gov. Tom Wolf again pushes Pennsylvania marijuana legalization to help fix financial damage from coronavirus

TOBYHANNA — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday once again prodded the Republican-led Legislature to legalize recreational use of marijuana, in part to generate revenue to repair damage done to the state’s finances by the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokeswoman referred to an earlier statement from Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman of Centre County, which said Wolf’s push for marijuana legalization during COVID-19 brought to mind the Winston Churchill quote, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

And a House Republicans’ spokesman said members on Friday would unveil bills designed to put the state’s economy back on track.

At a news conference in Monroe County, Wolf said legalization could raise billions of dollars of revenue for the state.

While Wolf did not put numbers on the scale of the state’s fiscal hole, some estimates have put the budget shortfall over a two-year period at about $5 billion, excluding $1 billion-plus in as-yet unused federal coronavirus relief funds.

Wolf referred to a statewide listening tour on the issue done last year by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, which Wolf said produced evidence of “overwhelming” support for legalization.

After Fetterman publicized the results, Wolf asked the Legislature to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. He repeated his request in August, accompanied by statements about financial problems caused by coronavirus.

Wolf said his Tuesday conference was a “third call” to the Legislature.

Wolf said he wants significant amounts of any state revenue from legalization to go to historically underserved communities and to businesses that have been affected by COVID-19.

His administration, he said, has started to reverse negative effects suffered by the state as a result of a 1930s-era ban on marijuana and its cousin, industrial hemp.

He said New Jersey might legalize recreational marijuana use in November. About 30% of Pennsylvania’s population lives within 30 minutes of the New Jersey border, and he predicted “people will go to New Jersey” to get their marijuana.

He appeared with Democratic state Rep. Maureen Madden of Monroe County, who said there is a robust market for recreational marijuana that could produce hundreds of millions of dollars each year for the state.

A spokesman for House Republicans, Jason Gottesman, said the state should not move to legalize another drug during an opioid abuse epidemic that is killing hundreds of people in Pennsylvania each month.

On Friday, Gottesman said, House Republicans will unveil bills intended to boost the economy that already have buy-in from both unions and private-sector job creators.

Corman addressed the issue in September.

“We have long maintained that state laws should be changed because they are good policy for the people of Pennsylvania ― not because of their potential to generate money,” Corman wrote in response to Wolf.

At the time, Corman said Republicans were waiting to receive specifics from Wolf, including who would regulate the industry, where marijuana would be sold, enforcement strategies and ways to minimize impact on the already-functioning medical marijuana industry.

“Like with any issue, a bill would need to work its way through the Senate Committee process to be vetted,” Corman wrote in September. “Movement on this issue should not be expected this fall.”