Maryland House and Senate lawmakers have resolved differences between a pair of bills to regulate marijuana sales that recently passed in their respective chambers, setting the stage for final votes on both floors within days.
Legislators have worked quickly to get the cannabis regulatory legislation in place before the state’s voter-approved legalization law takes effect in July, and Friday’s committee actions have brought them one step closer to realizing that goal.
The bills as introduced were identical, but they were amended in certain different ways throughout the committee process as they advanced. On Friday, the House Economic Matters Committee and the Senate Finance Committee took up the opposite chamber’s bill and approved reprints that align the measures so they can advance to final passage on both floors before the session ends on Monday.
“Instead of doing this back-and-forth and appointing conference members and stuff, we decided to hold on to each other’s bills and work out the amendments,” House Economic Matters Committee Chairman C. T. Wilson (D) said on Friday. “The goal is that the bill is going to cross back equally.”
It appears that the bicameral lawmakers have effectively achieved that goal.
Some of the most
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