Congress
Congress in the weeds as members hash it out over cannabis reform
The Blade is a sponsor of the National Cannabis Festival, which organized the event
Members of Congress from both parties outlined paths to successful marijuana regulatory reform during Thursday’s National Cannabis Policy Summit Congressional Forum in the Congressional Auditorium of the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), the Senate’s top Democrat, earned a round of applause after proclaiming himself “proud to be the first Majority Leader ever to say it is time to end the federal prohibition on cannabis.”
“Until federal cannabis reform is the law of the land, I believe in my bones that we will get there one day soon,” Schumer said.
He and the other members present were hopeful that these goals are within reach for this Congress.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told the audience he was hopeful about passage of the Safe Banking Act, which would prohibit federal banking regulators from punishing financial institutions that provide services to legitimate cannabis related businesses.
Merkley noted the bill was supported by nearly all of the Senate Democratic caucus and nine Republicans when it was last introduced in 2021. “I think there’s a real path to getting it done,” he said.
As more states have begun to pass legislation legalizing cannabis for medicinal use, in tandem with the dramatic shift toward a more favorable public opinion of cannabis use, legislators have learned they will not suffer political consequences for backing these proposals, Merkley said.
“No senator has seen this [political position] be a negative” electorally, he said. “It’s been a positive in race after race.”
Republican U.S. Rep. David Joyce (Ohio), a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, recounted how attitudes about cannabis among federal lawmakers have evolved quickly in the past few years.
In 2015, Joyce said he got blowback from then-Republican House Speaker John Boehner for his support of the Veterans Equal Access Act, a measure that would have allowed the Department of Veterans Affairs to facilitate patients’ access to cannabis in accordance with the corresponding state laws governing its use.
“And look at him now,” Joyce said of Boehner, who just four years later had become a lobbyist for the cannabis industry.
Joyce was joined on stage by Democratic U.S. Sen John Hickenlooper (Colo.), a member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee and chair of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, both among the most powerful in Congress.
The two lawmakers detailed their support for the Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult-Use Regulated Environment (PREPARE) Act, which was introduced last week by Joyce and Democratic House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
The legislation would direct U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to create and manage a commission responsible for issuing recommendations on a regulatory framework for cannabis modeled after that which is in place for alcohol.
Joyce took a swipe at President Joe Biden, characterizing his support for cannabis regulatory reform as tepid and suggesting the president’s stance on the issues might be a factor of age.
The congressman added that the PREPARE Act would benefit the administration by getting “all the agencies to the table to hash out” matters like “what their agreements will be,” and “what their redlines are.”
Otherwise, “the government would have no idea how to deal with” legalization, Joyce said.
As with alcohol, Hickenlooper said it will be important to ensure the federal government is “not trying to market marijuana to get more revenue from taxes,” though both he and Joyce touted the potential for windfall tax revenues that could be reinvested for the benefit of communities across the country.
“I think the more and more states that legalize marijuana, that see people working in the industry, see how it’s contributing to the economy…that changes public opinion, which makes it easier for us as lawmakers,” said U.S. Sen. Jackie Rosen.
“So, I think as more and more states legalize cannabis we will have the opportunity to have these conversations in a different way to move the ball forward,” said the congresswoman, who is a member of the Senate’s Commerce and Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committees.
Rosen and Merkley (D-Ore.) discussed the inequities perpetuated on the American public by the federal cannabis regulatory regime.
Merkley thanked Biden for “stepping forward” to pardon inmates who were incarcerated for federal cannabis crimes, while Rosen discussed the importance of facilitating safe access to banking services for legitimate cannabis businesses, noting the Small Business Committee’s work connecting minority owned firms to key support services. “It matters,” she said. “It’s about equity and inclusion.”
Remarks delivered by U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) via a prerecorded video touched on similar themes. The federal government’s goal, she said, must be “not only end the War on Drugs but also invest in the communities affected by it.”
“Federal cannabis prohibition has disproportionately impacted people of color,” Lee said, noting the data indicating that while Black and white Americans use marijuana at roughly the same rates, Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for possession.
“There are so many barriers preventing people of color from opening their own businesses,” Lee said. “We need to fully de-schedule cannabis, reinvest in communities of color, and ensure small and minority-owned businesses have the opportunity to participate in this market.”
The Washington Blade is a sponsor of the National Cannabis Festival, the organizer behind Thursday’s Congressional Forum. Tickets are still available for the Festival, which will feature an all-day concert along with “exhibitors, education pavilions, munchies zone, sponsored lounges and more.”
Congress
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.
But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.
The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.
To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:
“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.
“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”
Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.
Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.
Congress
Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer
Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died on Wednesday, according to a statement from his family.
The 75-year-old lawmaker, who served in Congress since 2009, announced last month that he will not seek reelection and would step down from his role as the top Democrat on the powerful U.S. House Oversight Committee because his esophageal cancer had returned.
“We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion,” his family said in their statement. “His absence will leave a hole in our hearts, but we are proud that his life’s work will endure for future generations.”
“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” they said.
Connolly was memorialized in statements from colleagues and friends including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), former President Joe Biden, and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Several highlighted Connolly’s fierce advocacy on behalf of federal workers, who are well represented in his northern Virginia congressional district.
The congressman also supported LGBTQ rights throughout his life and career.
When running for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1994, he fought the removal of Washington Blade newspapers from libraries. When running in 2008 for the U.S. house seat vacated by Tom Davis, a Republican, Connolly campaigned against the amendment to Virginia’s constitution banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.
In Congress, he supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, the Biden-Harris administration’s rescission of the anti-trans military ban, and the designation within the State Department of a special LGBTQ rights envoy. The congressman also was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and co-sponsored legislation to repeal parts of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would criminalize guideline-directed gender affirming health care for minors, will advance to markup in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.
Doctors and providers who administer medical treatments for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 18, including hormones and puberty blockers, would be subject to Class 3 felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the legislation is enacted.
LGBTQ advocates warn conservative lawmakers want to go after families who travel out of state to obtain medical care for their transgender kids that is banned or restricted in the places where they reside, using legislation like Greene’s to expand federal jurisdiction over these decisions. They also point to the medically inaccurate way in which the bill characterizes evidence-based interventions delineated in standards of care for trans and gender diverse youth as “mutilation” or “chemical castration.”
Days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” an executive order declaring that the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit” medical treatments and interventions intended for this purpose.
Greene, who has introduced the bill in years past, noted the president’s endorsement of her bill during his address to the joint session of Congress in March when he said “I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.”
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