PIX11's Monica Morales moderates mayoral discussion on small business issues in NYC
NEW YORK (PIX11) — Mayoral Candidates came together on Friday to discuss key issues concerning New York City's small businesses, economy, and job creation.
PIX11's Monica Morales moderated the discussion at the Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education.
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Mayoral candidates former Assemblyman Michael Blake, entrepreneur Whitney Tilson, Chief Executive Officer of the Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa, and attorney Jim Walden took part.
The NYC small business community, in conjunction with over 35 ethnic chambers of commerce, took part.
This will be the first time mayoral candidates will have the chance to field questions from such a diverse group of leaders and dozens of owners of small businesses.
The forum highlighted the most critical issues impacting small businesses across New York City.
It was an informative and spirited debate of the key issues most important to business leaders.
As voters prepare to exercise their electoral power in June's Democratic primary, several candidates will engage directly with small business owners on issues including small business funding, public safety, tariffs, jobs, and housing.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Politico
29 minutes ago
- Politico
Pritzker's budget blame game: Trump
Presented by Happy June, Illinois. And congrats to the state legislators who powered through the weekend. TOP TALKER BUDGET BLUES: Gov. JB Pritzker praised state lawmakers Sunday morning for passing a balanced state budget and blamed a 'Trump Slump' for Illinois seeing $500 million in reduced revenues. 'Donald Trump's incomprehensible tariff policies have put a tax on our working families and dampened the nation's economic outlook, the Trump Slump is affecting every state, and the chaos and uncertainty of the Republicans proposed cuts to health care and education and jobs have made budgeting well harder than ever before,' Pritzker told reporters in a press briefing alongside Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and state Senate President Don Harmon. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch had a family commitment. Pritzker said the 'chaos' in D.C. is affecting other states, too. He pointed to Iowa and Indiana that once 'were bragging about their fiscal condition while laughing at ours. My, how times have changed.' We noted that last weel. The governor touted Illinois having nine credit upgrades and seven balanced budgets while 'Indiana's 10 percent budget deficit and Iowa's 5 percent budget deficit caused them to cut public health and higher education and dip into their rainy day fund.' It's sinful: In the end, the Democratic-led Illinois General Assembly approved a $55.2 billion spending plan and a $55.3 billion revenue package for the next fiscal year that also included a good share of sin taxes from online sports betting, to tobacco products, nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes. There's a lot that didn't get done: The transit bill to prevent a 'financial cliff' in the transportation industry failed to pass — there's talk now of returning to Springfield to address the problem. An energy bill that would protect the state's power grid didn't pass. And an omnibus bill to improve elections didn't pass. And a proposal to overhaul the state's Tier 2 pension system (which affects public employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2011) didn't make it over the finish line, either (though lawmakers did approve $75 million for a reserve fund for the program). Funding that was approved: $500 million for economic development and investment in site readiness grants to local governments for economic development; $200 million for early childhood workforce compensation grants and a $175 million increase for the Child Care Assistance Program to support 150,000 children. Here's a budget breakdown from the governor's office. By the numbers: 'They passed 432 bills during their five-month spring session, though perhaps none more important than the state's budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The nearly 3,400-page spending plan and other budget-related bills passed just minutes before midnight on Saturday — roughly 30 hours after the measure was introduced,' reports Brenden Moore in The Pantagraph. There was some careful praise about getting over the finish line: Jack Lavin, head of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, said his organization is 'pleased' that lawmakers passed an economic development package, 'which included incentives for manufacturers, capital investment programs and business recruitment.' Republicans could only roll their eyes: State Sen. Terri Bryant echoed her GOP colleagues, calling the budget 'irresponsible, unsustainable and wrong for Illinois.' Republicans also criticized Democrats for 'ramming' the budget through in the last hours of the session. RELATED Among bills going to governor's desk: A measure designed to rein in the practices of pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, law-enforcement background checks and legal help for immigrants, via the Tribune Chicago public transit in limbo after state lawmakers fail to fill nearly $1B budget gap, by the Block Club's Charles Thrush and Manny Ramos Illinois Senate leaves without taking a vote on plan to let terminally ill people end their own lives, by the Sun-Times' George Wiebe Bears' stadium efforts run out of time in Springfield but state Rep. Mary Beth Canty says deal was close and talks will continue, by the Tribune's Olivia Olander It's the latest tough snap for Bears president Kevin Warren, by the Sun-Times' Mitchell Armentrout and George Wiebe For mentally ill people facing low-level charges, lawmakers take steps to get them care, not prosecution, by the Sun-Times' Frank Main and Stephanie Zimmermann Three-point seat belts to be required on new school buses in Illinois, by the Daily Herald's Russell Lissau If you are Don Harmon, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: skapos@ WHERE'S JB No official public events WHERE's BRANDON At Daley Plaza at 9 a.m. for the annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony — At the Southwest Pumping Station for a Chicago Grand Prairie Water Commission water project announcement Where's Toni At Daley Plaza at 9 a.m. for the annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or a complaint? Email skapos@ BUSINESS OF POLITICS — WHAT's NEXT: Now that the legislative session has wrapped up, watch for the governor to pivot his attention to the upcoming federal hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 12 about Illinois' sanctuary status. After that, Pritzker is expected to announce whether he'll seek a third term, timing it, likely, with the Cook County Democratic Party slating on July 17 and 18. — Endorsement: State Sen. Robert Peters has been endorsed in his bid for Congress in the 2nd District by the Amalgamated Transit Union, which includes Chicago Locals 241 and 308. — Dueling rallies at Huntley's Trump & Truth Store as owner vows to stay open, by the Tribune's Shanzeh Ahmad THE STATEWIDES — Feds say Michael Madigan should get 12½ years in prison: 'Madigan wielded the speaker's gavel in Springfield for 36 years. Now he's bracing to learn his fate June 13, when he's due to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John Blakey. The hearing comes four months after a jury convicted Madigan in an historic verdict,' by the Sun-Times' Jon Seidel. — A Madigan elegy: Mac Hoffmann, who was a staff attorney under former Speaker Madigan from 2015 to 2016, is now a singer-songwriter based in Minneapolis. He's out with an acoustic piece about Madigan titled, 'The Fall of the Velvet Hammer.' In a note to Playbook, Hofmann says, 'It's not a takedown. It's a reckoning—a meditation on what it meant to serve a system that no longer made sense. The timing aligns with Madigan's sentencing, but the story behind it has been unfolding for nearly a decade.' Sample lyric: 'The cleanest guy in the Capitol is the janitor mopping the floor.' Listen here. — Springfield's historic Myers Building officially sold, by the State Journal-Register's Claire Grant — Fake IDs now as good as the real thing — and essential to Chicago's college social scene, by the Sun-Times' Mary Norkol TAKING NAMES — HATS OFF: Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller's annual Hats Off to South Suburban Women Luncheon drew a crowd of 300 Sunday at Ravisloe Country Club. Spotted: Congresswoman Robin Kelly, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Ald. Stephanie Coleman, Sauk Village Mayor Marva Campbell-Pruitt, Richton Park Mayor Rick Reinbold, Homewood Village Trustee Vivian Harris-Jones, Homewood Village Clerk Nakina Flores, East Hazel Crest Trustee Maureen Moe Forté, Appellate Judge Sharon Johnson, Rich Township Clerk Sugar Al-Amin, Matteson Trustee Carolyn Palmer, Calumet City Ald. Monet Forte Wilson, District Police Commander Karla Johnson and school Superintendent Blondean Davis. — Dulana Reese-Campbell has been elected board president of the Young Democrats of Chicago. Reese-Campbell is chief of staff to state Rep. Kam Buckner. Other officers: Jackie Duarte, Lindy Girman, Tyler Harding, Taylor Coward, Evelyn Wilder, Arthur Dennis, George Haines and Brian Frederick. Reader Digest We asked about impactful protest movements. Michael Churchill: 'Vietnam War protests.' Michael Burton: 'The eight-hour day movement, centered in Chicago in the 1880s, gave us the weekend by reducing the typical workweek from six days and 70+ hours to our current 40-hour work week.' Ted Cox: 'Occupy Wall Street, #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. They may not have the momentum right now, but they're not done by any means.' Sean Duffy: 'The 1917 February Revolution in Russia forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate his throne and ended 300 years of rule by the Romanov dynasty.' Robert Fioretti: ' April 15, 1970, when an anti-war moratorium demonstration on tax day was held at Daley Plaza. More than 40,000 attended, and many there are still protesting today.' Daniel Goldwin: 'Free Soviet Jewry protest movement.' Charles Keller: 'On Oct. 31, 1517, Luther sent a letter with the 95 Theses to the Archbishop of Mainz, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.' Jim Lyons: 'The anti-war movement at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.' James Scalzitti: 'ACT-UP.' Emily Spangler: 'The Stonewall Movement. Stonewall is one of many reasons we LGBT people are recognized and protected in society.' NEXT QUESTION: What's a national holiday you'd like to see created? KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION — China happy with restrictions on its students, Krishnamoorthi says: 'They want these people back,' said U.S. Senate candidate and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on 'Face the Nation.' 'They want the scientists and the entrepreneurs and the engineers who can come and help their economy. And so we are probably helping them, as well as other countries, more than helping ourselves with this policy.' THE NATIONAL TAKE — The 'Medicaid moderates' are the senators to watch on the megabill, by POLITICO's Jordain Carney — Liz Magill, the first casualty in the war against elite universities, by POLITICO's Evan Mandery — DHS removes list of 'sanctuary' cities after sheriffs push back on non-compliant label, by Reuters' Ted Hesson — Chris Christie says Trump is giving free rein to white-collar criminals, by POLITICO's David Cohen — 'Completely unworkable': Sculpture experts say Trump's $34M statue garden has major problems, by POLITICO's Michael Schaffer TRANSITIONS — Jim Webb has started J Webb Strategies, a communications and crisis management business. He was director of operations at Serafin & Associates before it merged last year with Mercury Public Affairs. Webb also previously had a long career as a journalist for The Associated Press and was political editor at the Chicago Tribune. — Channyn Lynne Parker becomes interim CEO of Equality Illinois starting July 1. An Equality Illinois board member, Parker will serve in the post part-time while continuing in her full-time position as CEO of Brave Space Alliance, which serves LGBTQ+ individuals. Earlier this year, Brian Johnson announced he's stepping down as Equality Illinois CEO on June 30, via Windy City Times' Jake Wittich. — Alison Pure-Slovin has been named director of social action and partnerships for Simon Wiesenthal Center's Midwest office. She has been head of the organization's Midwest office since 2012. IN MEMORIAM — Richard Garwin, Chicago physicist who created the hydrogen bomb and worked to see it wasn't used, dead at 97, by the Sun-Times' Mitch Dudek EVENTS — Tuesday: State Rep. Kam Buckner is holding his Buckner Blues Bash. Details here — Saturday and Sunday: The Fort de Chartres Rendezvous, an annual tradition in Randolph County, takes place at the Fort de Chartres State Historic Site. Details here TRIVIA FRIDAY's ANSWER: Congrats to Ron Silver for correctly answering that Chicago's Monadnock Building is the tallest load-bearing brick building ever constructed. TODAY's QUESTION: Which boxing champion lost to Muhammad Ali and later ran for Chicago alderman? Email skapos@ HAPPY BIRTHDAY Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, business consultant Sonya Jackson, attorney Pejman Yousefzadeh, Kieloch Consulting Congressional Services Director Hannah Botelho, labor insider and lobbyist Alison Howlett, Tribune columnist Clarence Page, comms adviser Lauren Pulte and Dave Neal, legal chief for the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, who turns 70 -30-
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Duggan makes a show of the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference amid undercurrent of political tension
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) MACKINAC ISLAND – After a long Memorial Day weekend, politicians, business professionals, lobbyists and public service workers traveled to Mackinac Island for the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's annual Mackinac Policy Conference, with political division intersecting at almost all points with policy goals throughout the three day event. The conference typically features a host of panel discussions centered on economic development, education, housing, and politics at a state, national and international scale, and this year was no different as panelists pointed to concerns with Michigan's lagging approach to education, outlined the impact of uncertainty on tariff policies and federal funding and pointed to opportunities to build up the state's efforts in the manufacturing and technology sector. While some lawmakers came together for civil discussions in line with the conference's motif of civility and bipartisanship, political divides served as a backdrop throughout the conference, as the split Michigan Legislature remained concerned about the state budget and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan took pot shots at politicians over partisan bickering. Although members of Michigan's Congressional Delegation touted their ability to work together on issues affecting Michigan – like getting a new mission for Selfridge Air Force Base or protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species – the relationship among state legislative leaders was a bit more frosty. During an annual reception ostensibly highlighting civility, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, House Speaker Matt Hall, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt and House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri spent a tense hour that served as the four leaders' first meeting as a group debating the merits of each party's strategy to negotiating legislation. The back-and-forth between legislative leaders was just one example of what Duggan, who is running for governor as an independent, criticized as a broken system. Another example: The Democratic Governors Association began running a digital ad attacking Duggan, who was a member of their party until last year, claiming he has a 'long, corruption-riddled history,' just one day after Duggan spoke about the Democratic and Republican parties relying on attack ads to win their elections. Duggan told the Michigan Advance that Democrats 'are nothing if not predictable' after the ad campaign was announced. 'They hate Republicans in general, and they hate Donald Trump in particular,' Duggan said. 'But today, I've gotten them to broaden their platform; now they hate me, too.' 'Once again, after facing the tiniest bit of scrutiny, Mike Duggan resorted to another temper tantrum by immediately lying and comparing himself to Donald Trump,' DGA Spokesperson Sam Newton said in a statement after the Michigan Advance published Duggan's response to the ad. 'Well, he's right about one thing: both Duggan and Trump are corrupt and wrong for Michigan.' Although some panels confronted Trump's blunt-edged approach to diplomacy, federal funding and tariffs head on, U.S. Ambassador to Canada and former Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra offered an optimistic vision for the two countries' relationship, saying they could become a global powerhouse on energy and manufacturing if they're able to mend fences that have been stressed since Trump took office in January, proposing to implement punishing tariffs and speculating about making the sovereign nation a 51st state. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel criticized the business-as-usual approach she felt attendees were taking in their usual networking and lobbying efforts as the President works to expand his power and reshape the federal government. 'I look around the Grand Hotel and, you know, the Mackinac policy conference, and there's this sense that everything is normal and that everything is the same as it's ever been, and people are negotiating with each other for different sorts of policies they want to see implemented. And yet, I don't think they understand that anything can be undercut by the federal administration at any time,' Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told the Michigan Advance on Wednesday. Nessel has helped file 17 different cases against the Trump Administration, challenging several policy changes including Trump's executive order excluding certain newborns from birthright citizenship. While several candidates for governor and U.S. Senate were present at the conference — with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the early favorite for Democrats, making it a stop on her book tour — none got quite as much attention as Duggan, who was shown to be pulling equal amounts of support from Democrats and Republicans in a poll released last Tuesday. Duggan delivered a keynote address Wednesday and participated in a conversation with Rocket Mortgage founder and philanthropist Dan Gilbert on Thursday. Speaking on another panel Thursday afternoon, April Ryan, White House Correspondent for The Grio, underscored Duggan's arguments about partisan politics, telling Fox 2 Detroit Anchor Roop Raj Duggan's polling shows 'the system is broken.' 'Certain groups felt, that are now in power — now I'm going to say it — They felt like they weren't heard. And the problem is we have to find a way to get everyone under the umbrella. If you get this person, I'm not going to be heard. If you get that person, I'm not — it's such a polar opposite, and the system is broken,' Ryan said. 'We've got to find a way to fix it. That's why independents are on the rise, and people are listening, because people don't feel heard. People want to feel seen.' However, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who launched a Democratic bid for governor in March, took the helm for several announcements, including more than $107 million to support infrastructure workforce development, $769,000 in grants to support programs aimed at reversing population decline in the state, and a $3.5 billion commitment from the state's largest energy companies — DTE Energy and Consumers Energy — to purchase technology, equipment and services from Michigan-based businesses in support of the state's energy manufacturing sector. Notably absent from the conference: U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.), who declared his candidacy for governor in April. 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Gretchen Whitmer speaks during the second day of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during the second day of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Michigan state Rep. Joseph Aragona, R-Clinton Twp., discusses cryptocurrency policies in the lobby of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., during the first day of the Mackinac Policy Conference on May 27, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra speaks on the second day of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall holds a press conference on the porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., during the second day of the Mackinac Policy Conference on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Former Gov. Rick Snyder on the porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., during the second day of the Mackinac Policy Conference on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivers a keynote address during the second day of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivers a keynote address during the second day of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Skillman Foundation President and CEO Angelique Power and U.S. Sen. 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Miami Herald
31 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Ohio's revenue and pitfalls provide insight amid Pennsylvania's marijuana legalization battle
A preview of a possible future policy debate in Pennsylvania - with such questions as: "Should we let them grow 12 pot plants or six?" and "What about all those Poison Control calls?" - now is playing out in Ohio. The Buckeye State was the most recent of Pennsylvania's neighbors to legalize recreational marijuana. About 10 months into the new era, lawmakers in Columbus already want to overhaul the law that made cannabis legal. It's happening just as Pennsylvania lawmakers are reaching crunch time in their own marijuana musings. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a legalization advocate, tucked $500 million-plus in anticipated revenue from legalization into his proposed 2025-26 budget, and the deadline for state budget approval is June 30. Ohio, like Pennsylvania, has allowed medical marijuana sales for years. But reviews of how things have gone since recreational sales began on Aug. 6 are decidedly mixed. "I am not sure they did anything right," Tim Johnson, a consultant who has testified in the Statehouse in Columbus, said of the law's creators. Johnson, a retired Ohio law enforcement officer, consults for the marijuana industry and advocates for veterans, consumers and patients. Ohio's law got on the books via a Nov. 7, 2023, voter referendum. Tom Haren, an attorney with a Cleveland firm and a leading proponent of the ballot measure, praised its success. Naysayers, he said, have been proven wrong. "As expected, a dispensary shows in somebody's neighborhood, and all of the boogeymen that the prohibitionists warned about never show up," Haren said. Almost a year into the experiment, Ohio lawmakers have proposed changes to the revenue flow; putting a cap on the number of dispensaries; changing the licensing setup; and reducing the number of plants that can be grown in a home from 12 to 6. The activity in Ohio has the attention of Pennsylvania lawmakers. And it has fueled proponents' arguments that potential tax revenue is leaving Pennsylvania as marijuana buyers head to other states. Pennsylvania is "late to the game" but can "learn from the mistakes" elsewhere, Democratic Rep. Rick Krajewski of Philadelphia told a House committee in Harrisburg on May 5. A 173-page legalization bill he sponsored passed the Democratic-controlled House that week, but was then voted down by a Republican-controlled Senate committee. Ohio's 2023 approval happened via an "initiated statute" process in which non-lawmakers who feel an issue has been mishandled or ignored can have a proposed law put to a vote of Ohio residents. At the time of the Ohio vote, four other Pennsylvania neighbors - New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Delaware - had all made recreational cannabis use legal within the previous three years. The Ohio ballot measure passed by a 57% to 43% margin. The law created a Division of Cannabis Control to oversee the system. It set a specific limit on the level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, content permitted; allowed the growing of 12 marijuana plants in a home where two or more people who are over 21 reside; and set an "adult use cannabis tax" of 10% on marijuana purchases made at dispensaries. It also left the state's medical marijuana program intact. How it has worked in Ohio As of May 24, Ohio's 10-month-old recreational industry had sold 81,900 pounds of marijuana for nearly $540 million via nearly 7.5 million individual transactions. The 147 licensed dispensaries pay an initial fee of $70,000 and another $70,000 every two years for license renewal. Another 12 dispensaries are operating on provisional licenses. There are also 37 holders of licenses for growers and cultivators. The most popular level of that license has an annual license renewal fee of $200,000. Testing labs also must be licensed. What Ohio did not do, according to Johnson, was protect consumers, patients and workers. In fact, Johnson said the Ohio law created an "entrapment program" for users because it failed to increase what he described as the ultra-low levels of metabolized marijuana that currently exist in state law as measuring sticks for intoxication. Hence, Johnson said, someone who uses a small amount of marijuana one day may still have a threshold-breaking blood- or urine-test level weeks later. For employers, he said, this means a lot of positive drug tests among prospective employees. "Employers are starting to find out, 'Hey, we've got to stop testing for THC so we can hire people,'" Johnson said. The Ohio statute allows the Legislature to change the referendum-adopted law, and multiple change bills have been submitted. Haren, who views the Ohio program as a success, said it helped to build it off the existing medical marijuana infrastructure. Medical sellers were able to accommodate additional requirements under the new recreational law and - in Haren's view - operationally flip a switch and sell to both markets. "The only real difference is who is eligible to buy it," he said. Children, poisonings and hospitals Still, the broader Ohio discussion isn't over on whether recreational marijuana is a good thing. Testimony submitted to Ohio lawmakers a few weeks ago by a group of medical leaders at the state's children's hospitals sounded an alarm. "The number of accidental poisonings reported to Ohio Poison Centers for all age groups has increased 20-fold from baseline levels prior to the introduction of retail medical marijuana in early 2019," they said, with younger children suffering the most. Symptoms can include hallucinations, confusion, loss of consciousness and respiratory failure. In 2024, they said, nearly 500 children under 6 years old were seen in emergency rooms after ingesting a THC-based product. The much-respected Cleveland Clinic maintains a list of marijuana risks on its website that include an increased chance of auto crashes; increased chance of injury among adults over 65; contamination with pesticides or other harmful substances; and an addiction rate of about 1 in 10 adult users. Aaron Baer, president of the Columbus-based nonprofit Center for Christian Virtue, said his advice to Pennsylvania lawmakers is to "run away from this as fast as you can, for your kids' sake." In terms of academic achievement, economic development and helping people in poverty, it is difficult to argue that having more marijuana users benefits a state, he said. "It goes contrary to everything else we say we care about," he said. How other states did it Among Pennsylvania's neighbors, West Virginia is the only state that has not decriminalized recreational marijuana. And while the other states changed their laws in somewhat quick succession, they did it in different ways. In 2021, the governors of New Jersey and New York each signed bills that allowed marijuana use, and in 2022 Maryland voters passed a ballot referendum on the issue with 67% of voters in favor. In 2023, Delaware Gov. John Carney put out a statement that said he remained concerned about marijuana legalization, and "especially about the potential effects on Delaware's children, on the safety of our roadways and on our poorest neighborhoods." Carney declined to sign two bills that reached his desk - one to remove all state-level penalties for simple possession and the other creating regulations - and the bills lapsed into law. In Harrisburg, legalization concepts continue to percolate after the May 13 Senate committee shootdown of the House-passed bill. The Senate and House return to Harrisburg for voting sessions starting Monday. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
