An effort to legalize marijuana in Delaware is dead for the year due to disagreements among lawmakers over social equity funding. The House sponsor, Rep. Edward Osienski (D), says he was caught off guard after being informed that his bill’s inclusion of a new fund to promote participation in the industry by communities most impacted by prohibition meant it would require 75 percent of legislators in the chamber to approve it. Osienski attempted to fix the problem with an amendment that was introduced shortly before the measure was expected to go to the floor earlier this month, but that proposal was opposed by certain members of the Black Caucus, whose votes would be pivotal given the high threshold. The measure was then pulled from the calendar, with Osienski saying it would come back up after lawmakers had a chance to work out additional changes—but that never happened. The session ends on Wednesday, and the sponsor says it won’t be brought up by then. Osienski told The Delaware New Journal that he is “sorry that it didn’t happen this year, but I think it’s going to be a better bill” once it’s further revised and reintroduced in 2022.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 06/28/2021 09:05:00