Is Legal Marijuana In NJ Dead? Here's The Latest

Looks like marijuana legalization could reportedly be in jeopardy, again, now that a new report says the people behind the legislative efforts are too busy fighting over it.

Sources close to Patch say negotiations have slowed to a crawl since Gov. Phil Murphy's administration has been investigating whether corporations misused tax breaks in past years, including one company owned by Democratic powerbroker George Norcross, a close ally of Senate President Stephen Sweeney.

If marijuana legalization is going to happen, it needs both Sweeney and Murphy on the same page, scrambling to get the votes needed to pass the legislation. Read more: New Jersey Cancels Vote On Marijuana Legalization

What could happen, as a result, is that marijuana legalization may be the subject of a statewde referendum that likely wouldn't happen until November 2020. And if it's approved, 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.

There was hope for marijuana legalization advocates recently. Murphy had recently withdrawn plans to announce a big expansion of the state's medical marijuana program, a move that would have quadrupled it to serve as many as 200,000 patients.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.

Patch recently reported that Murphy and top lawmakers were turning their schedules upside-down to get it done, and lawmakers believed it could be brought back to a vote as soon as May.

But that scenario looks like it's changing again.

Responding to press coverage concerning New Jersey’s tax incentive programs, Governor Phil Murphy offered the following statement this week

“Coupled with what we already know about how the tax incentive program operated over the past six years, I believe now more than ever in the importance of the task force I commissioned.

“Until we’ve taken a good hard look at the entire process, I don’t believe we can be sure that all taxpayer money has been properly spent and accounted for. If there was fraud in this program, I expect the task force will uncover it and those individuals will be held accountable.

“ I believe anything short of a total revamp of the tax incentive program is a disservice to the hard working taxpayers of New Jersey.”

In an effort to examine the impact of the Economic Development Authority’s business incentive programs, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick are requesting legislative hearings by a bipartisan committee.

In an effort to examine the impact of the EDA’s business incentive programs, Kean and Bramnick are requesting legislative hearings by a bipartisan committee.

“We truly believe that there has been over the years a well-intentioned and bipartisan effort to raise up our struggling cities, like Camden, and there is no better way than by helping them to grow their own local economies,” said Kean, R-Union. “We agree that every government program deserves scrutiny and that tax incentives should be evaluated as to their continued effectiveness. The way in which we encourage and invest in our businesses needs to be as dynamic as the emerging industries we hope will make New Jersey their long-term home.”

The Republican leaders are asking Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin to institute a panel to conduct a thorough, timely and objective review of the authority’s incentive programs and the ways in which the state has achieved positive economic outcomes for both the business community and the taxpayer.

“Bipartisan hearings are necessary to determine the impact that these incentive programs had on Camden and other distressed cities,” said Bramnick, R-Union. “I plan to personally tour the areas that were awarded incentives to see for myself the difference they made and what benefits have been realized.”

Possible improvements or revisions to New Jersey’s tax policy could also be gleaned from hearings on the programs that are meant to create jobs and keep businesses in the state.