Senate to focus on repeal of medical pot law after reform stalls
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON Missoulian State Bureau | Posted: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 10:15 pm |
HELENA - A bill to repeal and tighten restrictions on the state's medical marijuana law stalled in the Senate Wednesday night on procedural grounds, so the chamber will now turn to Plan B: an outright repeal of the law that legalized the substance.
It was a moment of high drama in the Senate, amid reports of deal-making overtures by Democrats that Republican leaders rebuffed and lost the last-remaining major bill to tighten restrictions on medical marijuana use in Montana.
It also sets up the possibility that the Legislature either will repeal the medical marijuana law, or come up with nothing, with only three weeks left in the session. And a repeal bill might draw a veto from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who has said the law should be fixed, not overturned.
Senate Bill 423, the medical marijuana repeal and major overhaul bill by Senate Majority Leader Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, coasted through the Senate 37-13 after a lengthy debate. The bill was drafted by a subcommittee last week.
But it later hit a brick wall. The Senate twice failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority - 34 votes in the 50-member Senate - to suspend the rules to allow SB423 to be voted on twice in the same day in order for it to meet a key deadline Wednesday to send the bill to the House.
Although Republicans control the Senate 28-22, they weren't able to attract enough Democratic support on the two votes to suspend the rules for SB423.
The first vote to suspend rules failed, 31-19, and a second attempt fell short 32-18.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed we didn't get the vote to suspend the rules today," Essmann said later.
He criticized the "slow action" by Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer's budget office in taking the full six days allowed by the rules to prepare a fiscal note outlining the financial impact on SB423. The Senate didn't receive the fiscal note until Wednesday morning. Had the fiscal note been in the Senate's hands on Tuesday, Essmann said, the Senate could have taken the separate votes on SB423 on Tuesday and Wednesday without having to suspend the rules.
Essmann said his bill is not dead yet. The Senate still will take up SB423 again Thursday. However, if it passes, it would take a two-thirds majority vote by the 100-member House to suspend its rules and accept the late bill. If that fails, the bill is dead.
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After the first rules suspension motion on SB423 failed, Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, immediately and successfully blasted the outright repeal bill out of committee to be debated by the Senate Thursday. That bill is HB161, by Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, which had been deadlocked in the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 6-6 vote after passing the House earlier.
Democrats tried but failed to swing a deal to give Republicans enough support for the rule suspension vote in exchange for Republicans providing enough votes to pass a separate $97.8 million bonding bill for state university buildings and a new Historical Society museum. The bonding bill also takes a two-thirds majority.
At a Democratic caucus Wednesday morning, several Democratic senators, including Sens. Steve Gallus, of Helena, and Jim Keane, of Butte, both suggested that Democrats ought to get something in return - like Republican support for the bonding bill - in exchange for some Democratic votes to suspend the rules to take a second vote on SB423.
"I'm trying to get a deal," said Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, at the morning caucus. She said she had been talking to Republican leaders.
Later in the day, Democrats came up empty-handed in their attempted negotiations with Republicans.
Rumors of the deal-making caused Senate President Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo, to issue a news release criticizing Democratic efforts.
"I was disappointed to hear that Democrats are willing to use legislation to responsibly regulate therapeutic marijuana as a political bargaining chip for completely unrelated policies," Peterson said, adding: "Trading votes on an issue like this is like trading votes on abolishing the death penalty; it should never happen."
Williams later suggested that Democrats blocked the Republican efforts because they were unhappy that GOP senators recently defeated numerous Democratic efforts to amend House Bill 2, the major budget bill, to add more money for education and human services.
"I think the marijuana bill was an important one, but so was House Bill 2," she said.
Williams said the Democratic offer was that Republicans support all the Democratic amendments to Essmann's bill, which they believed would improve the bill. Most Democratic amendments failed.
"Basically, what I'm going to say is I'm not going to be held hostage by the far right," she said. "They can either work with us, or they're going to learn just because they have the majority, they can't always get their way."
Other Democratic senators, however, said Democrats offered votes to support the rules suspension vote on SB423, in exchange for Republican support for the bonding bill. Republicans, however, refused to agree.
Essmann's bill sought to make it much harder for people, particularly those claiming severe and chronic pain, to obtain cards authorizing them to obtain medical marijuana. His stated goal is to reduce the state's 28,300 cardholders to less than 2,000.
