Negotiations begin on legal marijuana deal as Minnesota Legislature nears adjournment
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota House and Senate negotiators on Friday had their first public meeting to finalize a deal on legalizing recreational marijuana, as lawmakers near adjournment for the year.
Both chambers had passed their own versions of the bill, which would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older. It also allows for lawful cultivation, manufacturing, and sale of marijuana by new cannabis businesses. A new Office of Cannabis Management would oversee those licenses and regulatory structure.
The legislature must end its work for the regular session by May 22. Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, the House bill's sponsor, vowed lawmakers will find a compromise in the next week.
"Minnesotans are ready for this change," he told the conference committee Friday. "Our laws are doing more harm than good and every day we leave them in place, more harm is done. So we are going to deliver this bill for the people of Minnesota this year."
There will be additional conference committees in the coming days, he added. An additional meeting is scheduled for Monday.
Soon after the panel of House and Senate members convened Friday, the bill's authors moved to adopt some areas of agreement. But some of the biggest differences in both proposals have yet to be sorted.
That includes the amount of money the state intends to collect from cannabis products. The House legislation has a gross receipts tax of 8%, which is slightly lower than the Senate's 10%. That tax will be on top of state and local sales taxes.
Among the other distinctions between the two plans: how much weed a person can have in their home; the extent to which local governments can limit the number of cannabis businesses in their communities; and how soon automatic expungements of low-level cannabis convictions would take effect.
Right now, criminal records would be cleared by this summer in the House version and 2025 in the Senate's legislation.
Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, urged the conference committee to slow down and consider working through the interim once session ends to finish its work, and then come back next year to pass the final version.
"I just want to make sure given the importance that this bill has for Minnesotans and the dramatic impact it's going to have on their lives that we get it right and don't rush it," he said. "I just want the committee to know that's an option available to us and has been done in the past."
Stephenson "strongly disagrees" with the premise that the bill should be delayed until next year, citing recent polling showing 64% of Minnesotans want marijuana to be legal.
"It is my expectation, intention, desire that this bill will be on the governor's desk before the end of this legislative session," he said.
If the bill is passed and signed into law, it would be legal to have cannabis for personal use in a person's home starting this summer, but Minnesotans wouldn't be allowed to legally sell it yet.
Stephenson estimates it will take at least a year to get the regulatory structure operational for people to apply for business licenses, so don't expect to go to a retail dispensary any time soon.
Gov. Tim Walz has said he will sign a bill that comes to his desk. Twenty-two states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana already.