{"id":85784,"date":"2026-04-15T08:50:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/pennsylvania-house-passes-governors-budget-plan-with-expected-revenue-from-marijuana-which-hasnt-yet-been-legalized\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T19:47:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T03:47:01","slug":"pennsylvania-house-passes-governors-budget-plan-with-expected-revenue-from-marijuana-which-hasnt-yet-been-legalized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/pennsylvania-house-passes-governors-budget-plan-with-expected-revenue-from-marijuana-which-hasnt-yet-been-legalized\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania House Passes Governor\u2019s Budget Plan With Expected Revenue From Marijuana, Which Hasn\u2019t Yet Been Legalized"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s House of Representatives has passed budget legislation proposed by the governor that relies on revenue that would be generated from recreational marijuana sales, which have not yet been legalized in the state.<\/p>\n

The Democratic-controlled House voted 107-94 on Tuesday to approve the spending plan from Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) who earlier this year included cannabis legalization and the resulting expected revenue in his budget request<\/a>. The vote was largely along party lines, though five GOP lawmakers joined Democrats in supporting the bill.<\/p>\n

The $53.2 billion budget legislation, which doesn\u2019t itself include provisions to actually legalize marijuana even as it contemplates allocating money that would result from it, now heads to the Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation reflects the proposal put forward by Governor Shapiro in February and builds on the work we have diligently done,\u201d House Majority Appropriations Chairman Jordan Harris (D) said<\/a>. \u201cThis budget continues our investment in public education, support for law enforcement, and strengthening Pennsylvania\u2019s economy, all while returning money to working families and not raising taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate\u2019s Republican majority leadership has continually criticized cannabis legalization, including a bill that the House passed last year that would put marijuana sales in state-owned stores<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-), Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-) and Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R) said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they \u201ccontinue to have profound concerns about the level of spending in the budget proposed by Governor Shapiro and passed by the House today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving a budget plan forward is an important step in the process, but much work remains to reach a final agreement which respects taxpayers both now and in the future,\u201d they said<\/a>. \u201cWe will continue to fight for a more fiscally responsible spending plan that better positions our Commonwealth to grow and prosper, without placing unreasonable financial burdens on Pennsylvania families and taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shapiro, for his part, said the budget legislation<\/a> \u201cbuilds on the progress we\u2019ve made and continues Pennsylvania\u2019s rise\u2014putting money back in folks\u2019 pockets, investing in schools, expanding our workforce, keeping our communities safe, and growing our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ball is now in the State Senate\u2019s court. It\u2019s time to get to work to deliver for Pennsylvanians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n
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BREAKING: The Pennsylvania House just passed my budget proposal with bipartisan support \u2014 a 107-94 vote.<\/p>\n

This budget builds on the progress we’ve made and continues Pennsylvania’s rise \u2014 putting money back in folks’ pockets, investing in schools, expanding our workforce, keeping\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) April 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n

Also on Tuesday, the House Health Committee approved a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in hospitals<\/a> and other healthcare facilities<\/p>\n

The legislative developments come as a new poll shows that seven out of ten Pennsylvania likely voters support legalizing adult-use marijuana<\/a>\u2014including majority backing for the reform across party lines.<\/p>\n

When asked whether they \u201csupport or oppose the regulation and taxation of legal cannabis for use by adults 21 and older in Pennsylvania,\u201d 69 percent of respondents said yes. Support was strongest from Democrats, at 72 percent, but also includes 67 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of independents.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0Pennsylvania\u2019s governor is increasing pressure on lawmakers to send him a bill to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in the state, saying that doing so would generate new revenue that could be invested in key programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile some in Harrisburg claim we can\u2019t afford to make bigger investments in our kids, public safety, and our economy, know this: If we legalized and regulated adult-use cannabis, we\u2019d bring in $1.3 BILLION in revenue for our Commonwealth over the first five years,\u201d Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said in a recent social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are dollars that can be invested back into our people and our communities,\u201d he said. \u201cStop with the excuses. Let\u2019s get this done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported in February that\u00a0legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania would generate nearly half a billion dollars in annual revenue<\/a>\u00a0by 2028, an estimate that is a significantly larger cash windfall compared to projections from Shapiro\u2019s own office.<\/p>\n

With a proposed 20 percent wholesale cannabis excise tax, 6 percent state sales tax for retail and licensing fees, IFO said the governor\u2019s legalization plan would generate $140 million in tax revenue in the first year of implementation from 2027-2028 and increase to $432 million by 2030-2031.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a much higher revenue estimate than\u00a0what the governor\u2019s office put forward in the latest executive budget. According to his office\u2019s analysis, legalization would generate about $36.9 million in tax dollars in its first year from a 20 percent wholesale tax on marijuana\u2014rising gradually to $223.8 million by 2030-2031.<\/p>\n

In February, a coalition of drug policy and civil liberties organizations urged Shapiro to play a leadership role in\u00a0convening legislative leaders to get the job done on cannabis legalization this session<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Senate Law and Justice Committee amended and approved a bill to create a\u00a0Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to oversee the state\u2019s medical marijuana program and intoxicating hemp products<\/a>\u00a0and that could eventually regulate adult-use cannabis if it is legalized in the state.<\/p>\n

The post Pennsylvania House Passes Governor\u2019s Budget Plan With Expected Revenue From Marijuana, Which Hasn\u2019t Yet Been Legalized<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Pennsylvania House Passes Governor\u2019s Budget Plan With Expected Revenue From Marijuana, Which Hasn\u2019t Yet Been Legalized<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania\u2019s House of Representatives has passed budget legislation proposed by the governor that relies on revenue that would be generated from recreational marijuana sales, which have not yet been legalized in the state. The Democratic-controlled House voted 107-94 on Tuesday to approve the spending plan from Gov. Josh Shapiro (D)Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":0,"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\/85784"}],"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\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85785,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85784\/revisions\/85785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}