Legal Marijuana In Limbo As NJ Gov. Murphy Signs 3 Bills Into Law

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed three bills into law – two of which are supposed to give students more incentive to pay off their college debts.

But what about the bill that many people have been waiting for – marijuana legalization – and appeared to be on its way toward becoming law until plans were recently scuttled at the last minute?

Three legislative sources told NJ Advance Media that discussions have started on separating the medical and legalization bills and reviewing them separately.

Lawmakers wanted to leverage the support of medical marijuana as a way to get recreational pot approved; since the legislation has stalled, however, legislators are looking for a backup plan, acording to NJ Advance Media.

Last month, Patch reported that Murphy and top lawmakers were turning their schedules upside-down to revive marijuana legalization after lawmakers fell as many as 5 votes short to get it passed in the state Senate. In fact, lawmakers believe it could be brought back to a vote as soon as May.

Indeed, because of the renewed effort, Murphy withdrew plans this week to announce a big expansion of the state's medical marijuana program, a move that would have quadrupled it to serve as many as 200,000 patients.

Murphy agreed to hold off, sources told Patch, because lawmakers worried that they would lose leverage in getting as many as five Democrats to change their minds and agree to vote in favor of legalizing marijuana. But that scenario could be changing again.

Read more: New Jersey Cancels Vote On Marijuana Legalization

This week, Murphy signed two pieces of legislation this week to assist student loan borrowers who are struggling with repayment.

He also signed S3129 into law, which will require the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to create a list of labor organizations that represent workers who engage in public work projects.

Under the new labor law, the list will include hourly rates, required fringe benefit rates, and regions in which the labor organizations represent workers

The list will be available on the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s website as a tool for municipalities to utilize when planning public work projects.

“Municipalities planning public works projects should have access to information about the wages and benefit levels received by employees who are represented by organized labor,” said Murphy

One of the other two bills that Murphy signed, S3125/A4475, offers alternate payment options for borrowers who experience financial hardship in repaying loans.

Those loans would be borrowed through the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) program. This legislation makes the Repayment Assistance Program (RAP) and the Household Income Assistance Repayment Plans (HIARP) permanent features of the NJCLASS program.

RAP and HIARP offer reduced, affordable monthly payments based on the combined household income of all of the parties to the loan, accordng to the Murphy administration.

The second bill signed, S3149/A4623, enables borrowers and co-signers to repay defaulted loans through installment plans that ensure they're repaid.

“Addressing student loan debt not only makes a crucial difference in individuals’ lives and careers, it also helps boost New Jersey’s economy as a whole. By making more affordable repayment options available through the new programs that HESAA has launched that are now codified into law, we will enable college graduates to live and thrive here in the Garden State,” Murphy said.