It may be a few weeks later than they planned, but Massachusetts lawmakers appear to have agreed on legislation to implement changes to the voter-approved law legalizing marijuana in the state.
The so-called compromise bill was introduced in the state House of Representatives on the Monday and, according to The Boston Globe, is expected to cruise through both chambers to the desk of Gov. Charlie Baker by Thursday.
The Democrat-controlled legislature originally planned to pass the bill by the end of last month, exactly a year before recreational marijuana shops become legal in the state. However, lawmakers struggled to immediately reconcile the differences between the state Senate and House bills, the latter of which was staunchly opposed by legalization advocates.
The law passed by voters last November originally set the maximum marijuana tax — including the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax — at 12 percent, a relatively low rate compared to other states that have legalized recreational marijuana, which some, including Baker, worried might not cover the cost of overseeing the new market.
The House proposed to raise the rate to 28 percent, while the Senate proposed no change. In the bill introduced Monday, lawmakers arrived exactly in the middle: 20 percent. [Read more at Boston.com]
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