Dem's idea to push bipartisan Senate marijuana plan in Pa. House first goes up in smoke

OG Article By Margaret Jackson, Reporter Watch Today's LIVE Episode on YouTube, X, and Rumble

July 21, 2025

A dispute over who would financially benefit most if Pennsylvania lawmakers were to decriminalize adult marijuana use stands between some state House Democrats and one of the few Senate Republicans who support legalization.

Here's what's happening:

In May, House Democratic Reps. Dan Frankel, of Pittsburgh, and Rick Krajewski, of Philadelphia, introduced H.B. 1200, also known as the Cannabis Health and Safety Act. Among other things it would run sales of adult-use cannabis through state liquor stores and give the Liquor Control Board regulatory authority.

The bill was quickly run through the House Health Committee, which Frankel chairs, passing on a 14-12 partyline vote. Democrats used their slim House majority to pass the bill the following day, sending it to the Senate for consideration.

State Sen. Dan Laughlin, the first sitting Republican in the Pennsylvania General Assembly to come out in favor of legalization, quickly denounced the bill for its state-store sales model and led efforts to kill it in the Senate Law and Justice Committee, which he chairs.

'Now is the time to get it done'

Fast forward to last week, when Laughlin, of Erie, reintroduced a bipartisan legalization bill with Philadelphia Democrat Sen. Sharif Street. The senators first unveiled the bill, now known as S.B. 120, in 2021, but have been unable to garner support from the Republican majority in the upper chamber. Their strategy this time: Have state Rep. Amen Brown, of Philadelphia, run companion legislation through the House first.

"The expectation is that a state rep. will copy our legislation and pass it through the House," Laughlin told the USA Today Network last week. "This will accomplish two things: It will prove the House has the ability to pass our language, and it will give me the opportunity to sit down with the governor and Senate leaders to discuss if a tax increase to balance the budget is more palatable than cannabis revenue."

On Monday, Brown, who backed Frankel's bill in May, introduced his version of the Laughlin-Street bill in the House.

"Now is the time to get it done," Brown said Monday after introducing the companion legislation. "We have shown in the House that we're willing to push some kind of adult-use legislation.

"The Senate, under Chairman Laughlin's leadership, he sent us a message and said 'the state store model is not it,'" he continued. "They voted it down and now (Laughlin) is definitely going to run his own version, so why not run that same one in the House?"

Why not?

Because House Democrats would be "negotiating against themselves," Frankel told the USA Today Network Thursday, when he was asked if he would run the bill, which was assigned to his committee.

'A real serious interest'

The House has already spoken, he said.

"House Bill 1200 is a reflection, I think, of the priorities that the vast majority of our members think are important," Frankel said. "I would encourage my Senate colleagues to send over a bill, any bill, even that bill, send it over. Show us that there is a real serious interest in legalizing adult use."

The state-store model, he said, offers the best opportunity to "create sustainable small businesses in the cannabis industry." The private dispensary model, on the other hand, has been "a runway for consolidation among the large cannabis businesses in this country."

"That basically has destroyed any realistic opportunity for the communities that we have sought to benefit from providing business opportunities to really be successful," he said.

However, he said he's "not wedded" to a state-store model. He's open to negotiations, but the House has already acted, he said. Now it's up to the Senate.

And Frankel doesn't believe Laughlin will be able to use his legislation to gain leverage in budget negotiations between Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat whose spending plan calls for legalization, and Senate Republicans, who've made it clear to Shapiro that the adult-use cannabis issue won't be part of budget talks.

More: Anxiety diagnoses have overtaken Pennsylvania's medical cannabis program, study finds

'He's the one holding this up'

But without Republican support, adult-use marijuana won't be legalized anytime soon, Laughlin noted Friday when asked about Frankel's remarks.

"If Rep. Frankel is serious about not running a reasonable bipartisan bill that provides a balanced approach to legalizing cannabis, then the citizens who want it legalized understand that he's the one holding this up," Laughlin said. "The negotiations are on behalf of the citizens, not a party."