The Democratic-controlled House Friday passed the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act by a 220-204 vote that fell almost entirely along party lines. This week we'll be taking a closer look at the MORE (Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement) Act. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on April 1, 2022. Staunch Republican opposition to legislation legalizing marijuana is one of the biggest hurdles Schumer faces in passing a measure through the evenly split Senate, where Democrats would need the backing of all of their members and at least 10 Republicans to make the bill law. Passage of the MORE Act would resolve this issue with the removal of cannabis from the CSA. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who vowed to make marijuana legislation a priority, is working on a separate bill with Sens. He says former President Richard Nixons failed war on drugs disproportionately targeted Black and Latino Americans and noted that the fact that the U.S. imprisons more people per capita than China and Russia is a stain. Ending the federal governments ban on pot would be a step in a positive direction. During a hearing for the MORE Act before the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) Recently, the House once again moved forward with proposed cannabis legislation. The rule change would have required 51 votes to pass but did . See our previous alert here . Republicans were so mad that Democrats were ready to pass that deal without them that some signaled they would pull their support for a forthcoming same-sex marriage bill. MORE (Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement) Act. The House already passed this bill to remove cannabis from its list of federally controlled substances back . Nota Bene Episode 160: European Update: Oliver Heinisch and Scott Federal Communications Commission to Consider Rules and Proposals to Whats the Standard? The Respect for Marriage Act will protect marriage equality and ensure individuals in same-sex and interracial marriages are guaranteed the same rights & freedoms as every other marriage. Today's vote to pass the MORE Act in the U.S. House of . . IT'S HAPPENING! Its kind of difficult to really rally conversations and hearings around a bill that doesnt technically exist, he said. The plan needed 60 votes to. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., that is expected to . House passes bill to . Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, is a member of the global network of Baker Tilly International Ltd., the members of which are separate and independent legal entities. NLR does not answer legal questions nor will we refer you to an attorney or other professional if you request such information from us. Congress has previously attempted to address this issue via the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (H.R. The New York City Council Sets its Sights on Non-Profit Housing DOJ Announces New Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy for U.S. Attorney Supreme Court: Salary, Not Daily Pay, Required for FLSA Overtime Time Is Money: A Quick Wage-Hour Tip on the Tip Credit, EDPB issues its Opinion on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, Hunton Andrews Kurths Privacy and Cybersecurity. But dozens of bills introduced since the 1970s have yet to become law. SAFE Banking Act. On Wednesday, Michigan senators voted to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for LGBTQ people. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is facing significant obstacles in his legislative push to legalize marijuana, with resistance from Republicans and members of his own party threatening chances of passage in the upper chamber. Senator James Lankford said I understand the House is going to try and skip the science and say were not going to look into that because people use it; were just going to allow it, said Lankford. Some states have laws and ethical rules regarding solicitation and advertisement practices by attorneys and/or other professionals. Year two, where the voucher program expands, is projected to cost $343.3 million, with $250 million as new money. Because cannabis is technically still illegal at a federal level, it is still technically illegal to medically research cannabis. Just three Republicans voted in favor and two Democrats opposed. Oscar Renautt did his part by starting the Unity Fund, an organization that helps put gay and trans people in office. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act was introduced by House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York. Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. Specifically, it removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. Same-sex marriage has been legal nationwide since 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are guaranteed the fundamental right to marry under the Constitution. The MORE Act passed the Democratic-controlled House in December 2020 in a 228-164 vote largely divided along party lines. Discovery sues Paramount in South Park streaming fight. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that her department is supportive of the SAFE Banking Act and lamented that Congress has not updated federal law to accommodate states that have legalized weed. Friday's 220-to-204 vote largely. It would protect people from losing earned benefits due to cannabis use or protect immigrants at risk of deportation. In terms of timing on the marriage equality bill, the Senate is expected to vote on it later this week, per the source familiar with negotiations. (The House also disapproved of a D.C. bill softening punishment for criminals; a decision on that bill now rests with the Senate.) On Wednesday, Michigan senators voted to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for LGBTQ people. This week, Democratic leaders tapped lawmakers to serve on a conference committee to craft the final China competitiveness bill. In 2020, there were five votes in favor of reform among Republicans. Mace voted no on the MORE Act. Every major urban area has record high crime and Democrats are legalizing drugs, there are record gas prices and Democrats are legalizing drugs and helping the marijuana industry, said Jordan. The margin of victory was smaller this year, as opposed to 228-164 the first time the MORE Act passed the House. Backers havesaidthe plan seeks to build upon the text seen in the MORE Act, with proposals aimed at addressing items like drugged driving and safety standards, among other measures. The bill, dubbed the MORE Act, was passed mostly along party lines by a vote of 220-204. Biden took a softer line during the 2020 presidential campaign, saying he would seek to reschedule cannabis as a Schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts. He has not yet taken action on rescheduling. It has ruined individual lives, ruined families and ruined communities, particularly in communities of color, said Jeffries. Law enforcement cannot afford to chase small pot offenders when violent crime is on the rise nationwide, says Carter. The House-passed bill included the SAFE Banking Act, while the Senate version did not. Eight Iowa state GOP lawmakers propose constitutional amendment to ban same-sex Watch live: White House monkeypox response team holds briefing, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Many of us may have thought the news on April 1st that the House passed legislation to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level was an April Fools joke, but it was not. Arizona Gets to Keep Its State-Operated Workplace Safety and Health Manufacturers Legal Considerations for Staffing Reductions, PCAOB Enforcement Activity Up Sharply in 2022. He also says the tax rate of 8% would make legal pot 30% more expensive, giving illegal operators a nice margin to exploit. Other business practices that could become available to cannabis companies if this passes is advertising on Google ads, sending business related SMS, leveraging social media for advertising, and more. On March 24, cannabis stocks rose, including the share prices of Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth (both up about 11 percent) and Tilray (up 22 percent). "When you give rights to someone else, it doesn't take anything away from you, it just makes society better for everybody because it is a diverse world," Rogers said. These four House Republicans broke with the GOP to oppose inflation estimates McCarthy, GOP pump brakes on release of Jan. 6 footage to Tucker Carlson, Christie: Trump grand jury foreperson did a lot of damage to case. . Heres how. Telephone and Texting Compliance News: Regulatory Update February 2023. On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act in a 220-204 vote. The MORE Act would need 60 votes to pass the Senate, which is unlikely. Under the current version of the bill, the tax will start at 5% but increase to 8% over three years. For far too long, we have treated marijuana as a criminal justice problem, instead of as a matter of personal choice and public health., Troy Carter, a Democrat from Louisiana, said that 91% of Americans want some form of cannabis to be legal and that there are more important priorities cops should be focused on. According to Reuters, only 7% of banks and 3% of credit unions offer a cannabis program, and some charge 400x more for a cannabis business account than their usual business banking accounts. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, but advocates say with Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, theyre more hopeful that the legislation will finally become law. Following debate on the House floor on December 3, a vote was scheduled for December 4, [17] when the bill passed with a 228-164 majority, mostly along party lines, marking the first time a chamber of Congress approved legislation to end federal marijuana prohibition. said the MORE Act would address our nations failed approach to the war on drugs. Its worth noting that Biden was a key part of the federal war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s; he authored the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Enforcement Act, which ramped up the war on drugs and imposed tougher prison sentences for federal drug crimes. Biden administration unveils long-awaited national cyber strategy, Lawmakers trounce Lobbyists in annual charity hockey game, These four House Republicans broke with the GOP to oppose inflation estimates bill, Biden mocks Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Isnt she amazing?, Union rep: Employees reporting illness after working on cleanup for East Palestine derailment, Biden urges Democrats to tout policy wins: Let the people know who did it for them, Pence disagrees with Haleys call for competency tests: The American people can sort that out, Judge says Starbucks committed egregious and widespread labor violations fighting unions, Why a DC crime bill is creating big problems for Democrats, GOP senators grill Garland on border security, weaponization of law enforcement, Sanders: Senate panel to vote on subpoena for Starbucks CEO, Twitter reverses suspension of Mike Lees personal account, The Memo: Lightfoot is latest Democrat to fall to anger over crime, Trump successfully chilled FBI from being willing to investigate anything related to him: Peter Strzok. That means the Senate bill needs at least 10 Republicans to support it, too, in order to overcome a filibuster. ADVANCED! Phil Scott is raising the red flag on the Affordable Heat Act. Five representatives, Ted Budd (R), Cheri Bustos (D), Liz Cheney (R), Mike Johnson (R), and Lee Zeldin (R), did not vote. It was the second time in U.S. history when the House voted on. The bill passed the House in 2020 but saw no action in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to pass most legislation. The Vermont Senate is preparing to vote on a major climate bill targeting home heating emissions, but Gov. Transgender people are just trying to live their lives like anybody else," Rogers said. Just last year, "legal" US cannabis sales grew 30% to $22 billion last year, surpassing the amount Americans spent on wine, according to data from Euromonitor. A few Senators have voiced their opinion on the legislation, even though the bill has not been picked up yet. If he is, it would be the first time that Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman's absence had an effect on a vote in the Senate because then the measure would only need 50 votes to pass. The guidelines for physicians and the Department of Health and Human Services will be clarified through this bill. Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Brian Schatz, and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley sponsored the bill. Democratic senators leading a push to legalize marijuana say they are now on track to introduce legislation before recess in August, after initially announcing plans to file a comprehensive reform . All states that have "legalized" cannabis over the last 10 years still technically are breaking the law due to preemption. An earlier version of this story included an incorrect identification. We need to regularize our banking laws and our tax laws around a business that will bring in billions of dollars for users and take a lot of risk out of a system right now that is legal in some places, but illegal at the federal level, and it makes no sense.. The MORE Act simply decriminalizes it by ending the federal ban (removing it from list of federally controlled substances) and removing associated federal penalties. Licenses for Exports to Are You Ready for the UPC? The legal industry generated $25 billion in sales last year, a 43% increase over 2020, and is expected to hit $65 billion in 2030. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Earlier this month the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed in the House, although it's not expected to do very well in the Senate. "And ignoring that diversity just makes it somehow darker.". This bill, similar to the MORE Act, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and allow states to determine their own cannabis laws. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. the House only has to vote to accept the changes to their bill versus starting the process over again. It was not taken up by the Senate, which. I would not think it would pass the Senate right now, he said. The MORE Act, which passed the House of Representatives in 2020 only to die in the Senate, would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances. As described above, the MORE Act proposes an excise tax on cannabis products. Rogers says as a transgender woman, she never wanted special treatment. Commentators have noted that a vote on the MORE Act would be the first time the full . The MORE Act, however, is expected to fail in the Senate. Healthcare providers face a host of legal issues such as regulatory compliance considerations, transactional business developments, cash flow problems, employment matters, and litigation. Cannabis is legal for adult use in 19 states and for medical use in 36 states. Past Roll Call Votes Voting Statistics Cloture Motions Senators Who Have Cast More than 10,000 Votes Creditor Stung By Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences Bylaws. It will be the first time since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 that a Congressional chamber has ever voted on legislation to remove marijuana from its prohibitive classification under federal law. This year, the MORE Act was filed again, and passed out of the House just a few weeks ago on April 1st. The measure not only woulddecriminalize the substance,it also wouldimposean excise tax on cannabis products made in or imported into the U.S. as well as levyan occupational tax on production facilities and export warehouse. The MORE Act does not end the war on drugs; all it does is poison our children and weaken our country, said Palazzo. The reality presents a stark contrast from the Democratic-led House, where members this month voted 220-204, largely along party lines, to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would nix marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances, expunge certain marijuana-related convictions and impose a tax on marijuana sales to help communities disproportionately impacted by the nations war on drugs. The MORE Act would also ensure the federal government could not discriminate against people because of cannabis use. Breaking the Link New Developments on U.S. We hope to do that towards the end of April, Schumer said in remarks last week, noting discussions with Sens. The House passed an earlier version of the bill in a lame-duck session in December 2020, only to see it stall in the Senate. 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