Fate of Marijuana, Bridgeport Casino Decided For Now In CT

HARTFORD, CT — Two major bills bit the dust for now in the state legislature. Legislators said that the recreational marijuana legalization and the Bridgeport casino bills wouldn’t be called for a vote by the end of the session on Wednesday.

The Bridgeport casino bill wasn’t expected to have enough support to pass in the State Senate and legislature decided to save time and not call it for a vote, according to the Hartford Courant. Some legislators pledged to bring up the matter during the 2019 session.

The bill would’ve allowed for bids for a Bridgeport casino and legislators would have to approve the proposal. MGM made the proposal for a casino in the area.

Legislators are still debating the state’s budget bill and as usual in recent years the matter will come down to the wire or past it. Republicans have called for a vote on their own proposed budget while Democrats say they want a bipartisan budget deal.

Legislative leadership also decided not to debate the recreational marijuana bill for much of the same reasons. Massachusetts will allow the sale of recreational marijuana come July 1.

Both matters came up for debate and passed in committee.

Legislators won’t have to show their voting cards on recreational marijuana, electronic tolling or the casino bill during an election year unless the issues happen to come up during a special session.

Electronic tolling had been hotly debated the past several months after Gov. Dannel Malloy strongly proposed the idea in an effort to bolster the state’s Special Transportation Fund. He indefinitely postponed several major infrastructure projects earlier in the year to keep the fund solvent.

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Not every bill turned into bupkis this session.

A bill that would mandate schools to teach about genocide passed both chambers with unanimous support.

Both the State House and Senate passed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which will give its presidential electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. The compact won’t take effect until enough states sign on to give the popularly elected presidential candidate enough electoral votes to win.

“With the exception of the presidency, every elected office in the country, from city council, to United States senator, to governor, is awarded the candidate who receives the most votes,” Malloy said. “The vote of every American citizen should count equally, yet under the current system, voters from sparsely populated states are awarded significantly more power than those from states like Connecticut.

The bill passed the State Senate by a 21-14 vote and the House by 77-73.

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