CT Lawmakers Delay Recreational Marijuana Bill To Special Session

CONNECTICUT — The regular session of the state legislation is scheduled to adjourn for the season on Wednesday at midnight, but lawmakers shouldn't start waxing down their surfboards quite yet.

A bill legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults that only narrowly won approval in the state Senate over the weekend, is now stalled in the House.

House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the vote in that chamber would be pushed off to a special session to be called sometime in the next two weeks.

Although the move by the Democrats delays the final vote and also triggers another Senate vote on the bill, the tactic dodges a likely Republican filibuster.

Senate Bill 1118, "An Act Concerning Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-use Cannabis," incorporates elements from Gov. Ned Lamont's original bill and more progressive legislation that had been floated during the session. The final language of the proposed legislation was released Saturday, and Republicans complained they had not been given enough time to read the 300-page bill before being called to vote on it.

Ritter said that he expects that some Republican Senators who had voted against the bill over the weekend might vote in favor during the forthcoming special session.

Also on the agenda for the last regular session at the State House on Wednesday is a Senate vote on the 2-year budget. The spending plan passed the House in a rare bipartisan vote on Tuesday.