HARTFORD, Conn. — A bill that would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older in Connecticut, will be voted on in a special session. House Speaker Matt Ritter said there would not have been enough time for lawmakers to vote on it before the end of the legislative session, which ended at midnight on Wednesday. Ritter said Republicans planned to filibuster.
“They could've given us a vote. We offered them 16 hours and all 30 bills they wanted to call. Let me repeat that. They had 30 bills and all 30 bills they wanted to call, we offered to do 30 bills, none of ours, all we asked for was a vote,” he said.
Ritter said he is confident they will have enough votes to pass the bill.
“The tactic today used by the House Republicans, we picked up 5 votes today in our caucus. Five. Just because of the tactic they chose to use,” he said.
However, House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said he has been saying for days that lawmakers did not have enough time to give the nearly 300-page bill the discussion it deserved.
“Moving forward I think there needs to be a little more conversation and dialogue. But I'm a little disappointed that Democrats seem to think that going into special session is going to be retribution for Republicans,” he said.
The “implementer” bill which basically puts the state budget into effect will also be handled in a special session.
Speaker Ritter says that will be held in a week or two. Candelora says it is looking like June 16th will be the date.
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