NJ Lawmakers Pass Big Marijuana, Vaccine, Driver's License Bills

NEW JERSEY – Lawmakers have passed three bills that could have an impact on millions of lives, while another awaits a vote in the Senate.

The Senate and Assembly passed a bill that would put marijuana legalization to a public vote in 2020. They also passed a bill to expand access to driver's licenses and create other changes.

Murphy signed the driver's license bill into law on Thursday. The marijuana bill doesn't require his signature. Read more: Gov. Phil Murphy Signs Big NJ Driver's License Changes Into Law

The Assembly also passed a bill that would eliminate certain exemptions for vaccines. But the bill stalled and did not get a vote on Monday (see below).

Here is what was on the table:

• One bill would schedule a referendum in November 2020 to amend the New Jersey Constitution and allow marijuana legalization. The Senate passed the bill 24-16 and the Assembly approved by a 49-24-1 vote. Read more: Big Move Toward Legalizing Marijuana In NJ Is Set
• Another bill would create three big changes to driver's licenses, including expanding access to undocumented immigrants. Drivers could end up paying more, too. The bill passed the Assembly by a 42-30-5 vote, eliciting cheers from the balcony. The Senate passed it 21-17. Read more: 3 Big Changes Involving NJ Driver's Licenses, MVC Expected.
• A third bill would eliminate religious or "personal beliefs" as a valid exemption to vaccination — a proposal that has drawn large protests in Trenton in recent days. The bill passed the Assembly by a 45-25-6 vote but the legislation stalled in the Senate after lawmakers were subjected to shouts by opponents of the bill. Read more: NJ Parents Make Final Push To Save Religious Vaccine Exemptions.

Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Senator Joe Vitale, the sponsors of legislation to ensure more universal use of vaccines, issued the following joint statement after their decision to hold the bill at today’s Senate session:

“This bill is vital for the health and safety of the residents of New Jersey, especially our children and we look forward to bringing the bill up for a vote in the near future.

“This legislation is nothing less than an important public safety measure and nothing more than a reasonable and effective way to protect against the spread of infectious diseases. These are vaccines that have been proven to be safe for the children who receive them and effective in protecting the health of others.

“We understand the passion and concern people have around this legislation, and we do not take our advocacy for it lightly. But we shouldn’t let emotion overcome responsible actions we can and should take to protect against infectious and possibly deadly diseases.

“We have a responsibility to protect the public’s health, especially children who could be exposed to infections. This is about keeping our future generations safe and healthy. Our personal health choices are not made in a vacuum. The decision to refuse vaccinations can have a real and immediate impact on the safety of others.

“This bill is also for those who medically cannot get vaccinated and may be too fragile to fight off serious disease. When healthy people are vaccinated, they protect and insulate the people who physically can’t be.

“We won’t give up on our efforts to do what we can to see that vaccines are used as broadly as needed and that the exposure and spread of infectious diseases is prevented.”

On the marijuana legislation, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex said putting the issue to a referendum "is both sensible and equitable. While not our preferred method of legislating, public questions allow voters to affirm or deny massive shifts in public policy."

“The time to end the prohibition of adult-use cannabis is now," he said. "Along with enabling legislation yet to be worked out, New Jersey would become the next state to ensure a safe, highly regulated cannabis industry. The decision is now in the hands of the November 2020 electorate.”

Democratic Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari implored his colleagues to "let the people speak." A big supporter of legalization, Scutari said it's time for lawmakers to stop "sticking their heads in the sand" and stop "arresting their way out of the problem."

Two Democrats, Sens. Ron Rice and Shirley K. Turner, expressed reservations about the bill, saying the state Legislature should decriminalize first. Rice has not been in favor of legalization, saying he has a moral opposition to it.

"Let's decriminalize it instead of arresting people," Turner said.

Republican Sen. Gerald Cardinale said the legislation could encourage people to drive while intoxicated. He said people who do not use drugs could end up being the victims of driving-while-high, saying: "They would just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Before the passage of the vaccine bill, Democratic Assemblyman Herb Conaway said children "shouldn't have to suffer for the decisions made by others." Some Republicans questioned whether the review process would be effective.

On the driver's license bill, Coughlin said the legislation is "fair and responsible."

"It brings us one-step closer to ensuring all motor vehicles and drivers are insured, thereby creating safer roadways for all New Jersey residents," he said.

The ACLU also celebrated:

Republicans such as Sen. Michael Testa expressed their "disappointment" toward its passage.

Testa accused Democrats of "prioritizing driver’s licenses for illegals and eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations over lowering your property taxes. New Jerseyans are so sick and tired of our state’s high cost of living, more than 40 percent have an exit plan in the next five years."

“We need to sound the alarm. Big, meddlesome, and expensive state government does not know best," he said. "Legislative Democrats are either ignoring the fact that so many families are planning to flee New Jersey due to sky-high taxes, or they just don’t care."

Here is what each bill specifically entails:

Legalizing marijuana

The bill, ACR840, would call for a vote to amend the state constitution to legalize marijuana for personal, non-medical use by adults who are 21 or older.

The amendment would provide that all receipts from the retail purchases of marijuana should be subject to the sales tax, but New Jersey towns could add their own tax as well. The municipal tax rate would not exceed 2 percent of the receipts from each sale, according to the legislation.

The amendment would read this way:

Do you approve amending the Constitution to legalize a controlled form of marijuana called "cannabis?" Only adults at least 21 years of age could use cannabis. The state commission created to oversee the State’s medical cannabis program would also oversee the new, personal use cannabis market. Cannabis products would be subject to the state sales tax. If authorized by the Legislature, a municipality may pass a local ordinance to charge a local tax on cannabis products.”

After a last-ditch attempt to gain legalization via legislative approval, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sen. Nicholas Scutari, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said recently that they will seek voter approval of a constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use marijuana in New Jersey.

The initiative, they said, "will bring cannabis out of the underground so that it can be controlled to ensure a safe product, strictly regulated to limit use to adults and have sales subjected to the sales tax."

"We will have the Legislature vote on the plan during the current legislative session and expect the proposal to be on the ballot in 2020, when voter turnout will be maximized for the national election," they said. "We are confident it will be approved by the Senate, the Assembly and the voters."

Murphy also released a statement: "My belief that our current marijuana laws have failed every test of social justice and that the right course is to legalize its use by adults has not changed. I am disappointed that we are not able to get this done legislatively and that our failed status quo — which sends roughly 600 people to jail a week for possession, the majority of them people of color — will continue.

"However, I have faith that the people of New Jersey will put us on the right side of history when they vote next November," Murphy's statement added. "By approving this ballot measure before the end of this legislative session, New Jersey will move one step closer to righting a historical wrong and achieving what I have spent more than three years advocating for."

Efforts to pass the bill earlier in the year fell about five votes short. Read more: New Jersey Cancels Vote On Marijuana Legalization

Those "no" votes included Sen. Richard Codey, the former acting governor, and Sen. Ron Rice, both Essex Democrats. Rice, a former police officer, said he prefers to decriminalize the drug.

If it's approved in November 2020, pot wouldn't be sold in stores for another six months to a year after that because of the lengthy regulatory process that needs to be developed.

Driver's licenses

The legislation, A4743/S3229, would create a two-license system in New Jersey, including a REAL ID federal license and a standard license for driving and identification purposes for qualified drivers. The bill would essentially expand access to undocumented immigrants, survivors of domestic violence and others who face barriers meeting the REAL ID requirement.

The same legislation would also would permit the Motor Vehicle Commission to "increase certain fees," although it's not exactly clear what fees the MVC might want to raise.

The bill to expand access to driver's licenses, introduced by Assemblywoman Annette Quijano and Sen. Joseph Vitale, is mainly intended to help immigrants and others who face barriers in obtaining a license under the REAL ID program.

Supporters say the proposed legislation is a "common sense" solution for the numerous New Jerseyans who need a driver's licenses to provide and care for their families.

Hundreds have rallied outside the Trenton Statehouse to call for prioritization of legislation to expand access to driver's licenses. Rallygoers from across the state have been joined by several members of the Legislature, all pushing for the legislation's passage now that the November election is over.

In New Jersey, more than 700,000 residents lack access to a state-issued driver's license, supporters say. Many lack access because of their immigration status but also because of their low-income status, they're formerly incarcerated, they're homeless or they're survivors of domestic violence, supporters say.

Vaccine exemptions

Hundreds of parents in New Jersey have been protesting what they say is an invasion of their civil rights and liberties — a proposal by the New Jersey state Senate to eliminate religious or "personal beliefs" as a valid exemption to vaccination.

After measles outbreaks in Rockland County and Brooklyn, New York state removed the religious exemptions to vaccination last year. New Jersey was quick to follow in New York's footsteps, when Vitale, a Democrat from Middlesex County, and Sen. Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat from Bergen County, introduced the bill to void religious exemptions earlier this year.

If the bill passes, parents can still choose to not vaccinate their children, but the kids will not be allowed to attend New Jersey public schools. Currently, parents can claim a religious or personal exemption to having their child vaccinated, and the child can still attend public school.