Don’t count on state lawmakers voting by the end of the year on a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey, the top two leaders of the state Legislature said Wednesday.
“You will probably not be able to smoke it on New Year’s Eve — legally,” state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said after a meeting of Democratic legislators at the East Brunswick Hilton.
Lawmakers were holding out hope for both the state Senate and Assembly to vote on the bill Monday — the last voting session of the year — and thus fulfill Gov. Phil Murphy’s call to pass legal weed by the end of 2018.
Both Coughlin and Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said Wednesday that doesn’t appear likely — unless they can iron out major differences they have with Murphy on the bill in a meeting scheduled for Thursday.
“There’s not gonna be a vote in the Senate on the 17th,” Sweeney said. “Let me clarify: Unless we come to an agreement tomorrow. ... I’m more than willing to sit and listen and talk with him."
Thursday’s meeting will be the first sit-down New Jersey’s top three elected state officials have had since October, thanks to their sometimes rocky relationship.
Coughlin said Murphy and lawmakers “haven’t resolved some of the issues” about the bill, which advanced out of committee last month despite months of disagreements between lawmakers.
“I’m hopeful tomorrow we can make some progress,” Coughlin said.
He added: “I guess it’s theoretically possible” to have a vote Monday.
There are two major sticking points. One is the rate at which the state would tax marijuana. The bill currently has it at 12 percent. Murphy’s administration reportedly wants it higher.
Meanwhile, Murphy and Sweeney are at odds over creating a full-time Cannabis Regulatory Commission to control the industry. The bill would require an examination at the three-year mark to see if it should be full-time. Murphy is opposed, while Sweeney wants a full-time commission.
NJ Advance Media staff writers Matt Arco and Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook