![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-85.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
A top Minnesota lawmaker says that she expects marijuana legalization to be included in the governor\u2019s forthcoming budget request, though she reiterated that the reform \u201cwill take a long time\u201d to move through the legislature.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) told MinnPost that she\u2019s optimistic that there\u2019s enough momentum in her chamber to enact legalization, pointing out that the House has already passed such legislation in a past session and that the Democratic caucus \u201chas gotten more progressive on that issue and not less so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about the Minnesota Senate. I would be surprised if they didn\u2019t also have the votes,\u201d she said. \u201cI know that the governor is on board. I would expect it will be in the governor\u2019s budget, which is a massive step forward because it\u2019s his agencies that need to implement the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gov. Tim Walz (D) included funding for implementing legalization<\/a> in his executive budget request this year, but lawmakers were unable to enact the policy change. He\u2019s expressed confidence that the issue will move in the upcoming session, especially since the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party won a slim majority in the Senate while retaining its control of the House.<\/p>\n But Walz and Hortman have differing opinions about how quickly legalization can advance, with the governor recently saying it would be done \u201cby May,\u201d<\/a> while the speaker has made clear she feels it will take longer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very time consuming bill. This is not like enshrining reproductive freedom into statute,\u201d Hortman said<\/a> in the new interview. \u201cThis is not something you can do in three weeks. It will take a long time to get the bill through the House and the Senate and for the governor\u2019s team to all have it in a position where it can be done well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Walz, meanwhile, has described the issue as a top priority<\/a> that he hopes to see advance in the legislature as \u201cone of the first items\u201d to reach his desk in the 2023 session.<\/p>\n It seems likely that the governor will address the reform in his budget request, but it\u2019s unclear if he will go further than simply calling for implementation funding this round by including a comprehensive legislative proposal to enact legalization itself. Marijuana Moment reached out to his office for comment, but a representative was not immediately available.<\/p>\n Following their election win last month, Democrats internally agreed to discuss the issue<\/a> in short order. But the speaker said recently in a separate interview that she felt legalization \u201cmay well happen in the next two-year period,\u201d a much broader timeline compared to the governor\u2019s projection.<\/p>\n State Sen. Sen. Nick Frentz (D), an assistant leader in the new DFL Senate majority, said that he believes legalization \u201cwill pass this session,\u201d though he agrees with the speaker that \u201cthere\u2019s a question of timing.\u201d<\/p>\n The House\u00a0passed a legalization bill from House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D)<\/a>\u00a0last year, after it moved through 12 committees on its intensive legislative journey to the floor. It then stalled out in the GOP-controlled Senate. An\u00a0earlier bipartisan legalization proposal<\/a> led by Sens. Scott Jensen (R) and Melisa Lopez Franzen (D) in 2019 also did not advance.<\/p>\n Franzen also\u00a0tried to leverage a legislative procedure<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year to bypass the committee process and quickly bring legalization to the floor, but the motion did not receive the required supermajority support to work.<\/p>\n The MNisReady Coalition, meanwhile, is eager to see the issue advance in 2023. The coalition\u00a0launched a voter education resource<\/a>\u00a0in August in the hopes of activating more voters to make their voices heard and support candidates who back cannabis legalization\u2014an effort that seems to have paid off.<\/p>\n Two polls released in September found that the majority of Minnesota residents\u00a0support adult-use marijuana legalization<\/a>\u2014and one survey showed that even more Minnesotans approve of the state\u2019s move to legalize THC-infused edibles that was enacted earlier this year.<\/p>\n A\u00a0survey conducted by officials with the House<\/a>\u00a0at the annual State Fair that was released in September also found majority support for legalization. That legislature-run poll found that 61 percent of Minnesotans back legalizing cannabis for adult use.<\/p>\n Support was up this year from 58 percent when the House Public Information Services\u00a0polled fair goers on the issue last year<\/a>. In 2019,\u00a0the House poll found 56 percent<\/a>\u00a0support for legalization.<\/p>\n The governor also\u00a0signed a bill over the summer<\/a>\u00a0that included provisions to provide permanent protections allowing state\u00a0hemp businesses to legally market certain cannabis products<\/a>\u2014including foods and beverages infused with CBD and other cannabinoids.<\/p>\n Back in January, Winkler and Franzen discussed their plans to advance the cannabis reform<\/a> in the 2022 session.<\/p>\n Winkler said at the time that his bill was\u00a0the \u201cproduct of hundreds of hours of work involving thousands of people\u2019s input, countless hearings and public listening sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n Previously, in 2019, the governor\u00a0directed state agencies to prepare to implement reform<\/a>\u00a0in anticipation of legalization eventually passing.<\/p>\n While legalization wasn\u2019t ultimately enacted following the House\u2019s passage of the bill last year, the governor did sign a bill to\u00a0expand the state\u2019s medical marijuana program<\/a>, in part by allowing patients to access smokable cannabis products.<\/p>\n The House majority leader said in 2020 that if Senate Republicans don\u2019t go along with the policy change legislatively, he hoped they will\u00a0at least let voters decide on cannabis<\/a>\u00a0as a 2022 ballot measure, but that didn\u2019t materialize.<\/p>\n Bipartisan Group Of 29 Congressional Lawmakers Pushes Biden To Back Marijuana Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Minnesota Governor Expected To Put Marijuana Legalization In Budget, House Speaker Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A top Minnesota lawmaker says that she expects marijuana legalization to be included in the governor\u2019s forthcoming budget request, though she reiterated that the reform \u201cwill take a long time\u201d to move through the legislature. House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) told MinnPost that she\u2019s optimistic that there\u2019s enough momentum inContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":59769,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59770,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59768\/revisions\/59770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-84.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Minnesota Governor Expected To Put Marijuana Legalization In Budget, House Speaker Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"