Pennsylvania lawmakers are stepping up their push to pass a marijuana legalization bill, emphasizing the need for bipartisan and bicameral collaboration to enact the reform with a focus on social justice.

At a “Cannabis Day at the Capitol” rally hosted by DACO and Black Cannabis Week on Tuesday, several legislators underscored their commitment to advancing legalization in the Keystone State.

Rep. Chris Rabb (D) gave an impassioned speech, stating that lawmakers “don’t talk about the history that put prohibition on this place—and if we don’t acknowledge the context in which this policy was radically changed in the 1930s, then we don’t do justice to the fight today. And that policy change was born out of racism.”

“I’ll say it again, because these are words that a lot of my colleagues don’t want to use—because it may seem impolite or controversial or problematic—but you know what’s more problematic? Racism itself,” he said. “We are here today because there was a time when this plant was associated with people who were marginalized and victimized to benefit other industries who are afraid of cannabis.”

Rabb also seemed to draw a line in the sand on the need to incorporate social equity provisions into any legalization bill that advances, saying it’s going to be “really hard to get 102 votes in the House” if the legislation primarily favors “wealthy people” who “play around the margins.”

“If this legislation that ultimately is enacted into law is not centered on social equity—and when I say social equity, I don’t just mean Black and brown folks. I mean rural folks, folks with disabilities, the law enforcement community, farmers, all kinds of folks—this doesn’t just happen,” he said.

Sen. Sharif Street (D), who has championed legalization legislation over recent sessions, also participated in the rally, echoed Rabb’s points, saying “an essential part of passing adult-use is it’s gotta be making sure that they seal and expunge the records of all those folks who are convicted of cannabis crimes.”

“We gotta make sure that Black and brown business folks have a have an opportunity to participate in the recreational adult-use,” he said.

The time has come to legalize cannabis, and any bill must center restorative justice for years of disparate enforcement of our cannabis laws, which imprisoned and impedes the upward mobility of Black and brown communities. #MondayMotivation #legalizePA pic.twitter.com/Skt2OgjdV2

— Senator Sharif Street (@SenSharifStreet) June 11, 2024

Rep. Napoleon Nelson (D) said that while Pennsylvania might not be one of the first states to legalize, “we’re going to be the first to do it right.”

Brittany Crampsie, spokesperson for ResponsiblePA, told Marijuana Moment that, as lawmakers “consider adult-use legalization in this year’s budget, voters and reform advocates across the state are urging the legislature to pass adult-use cannabis legalization now.”

“It is essential that our state no longer trails its neighbors in implementing equitable laws around cannabis,” she said, adding that the organization commends legislators who participated in Tuesday’s event “for calling on their peers in both chambers for leadership and consensus-building at this critical time.”

While the rally only featured Democratic lawmakers, ResponsiblePA organized a separate event last month where Sens. Dan Laughlin (R), who is sponsoring cannabis legislation with Street, said the state is “getting close” to legalizing marijuana, but the job will only get done if House and Senate leaders sit down with the governor and “work it out.”

“We need to work it out, and that doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Laughlin said, adding that while he understands Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has again included legalization in his budget proposal this year, “you need to sit down with House and Senate leadership and try and work out a package where we can get this done.”

We are working toward not just for legalization of adult-use cannabis, but also for expungement of cannabis-related criminal charges and an equitable distribution system that embraces diversity and promotes small legacy providers.#legalizePA pic.twitter.com/ztuGRnjZOk

— Senator Sharif Street (@SenSharifStreet) June 12, 2024

Warren County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Robert Greene, a registered medical cannabis patient in the state,  also spoke at that rally. In January, Greene filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to overturn a ban preventing medical marijuana patients from buying and possessing firearms.

Meanwhile, last month the governor’s office said that the Biden administration’s move to federally reschedule marijuana “adds support” for an effort to legalize cannabis in Pennsylvania.

Two Pennsylvania House panels held a joint hearing to discuss marijuana legalization in April, with multiple lawmakers asking the state’s top liquor regulator about the prospect of having that agency run cannabis shops.

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Also in April, members of the House Health Committee had a conversation centered on social justice and equity considerations for reform.

That took place days after Rep. Amen Brown (D) filed a marijuana legalization bill that he described as “grounded in safety and social equity.”

“I’m here to get this done,” Brown said at this week’s rally, noting that he and other people he knows have a “personal experience” with current marijuana policy.

At a prior meeting in March, members focused on criminal justice implications of prohibition and the potential benefits of reform.

At another hearing in February, members looked at the industry perspective, with multiple stakeholders from cannabis growing, dispensing and testing businesses, as well as clinical registrants, testifying.

At the subcommittee’s previous cannabis meeting in December, members heard testimony and asked questions about various elements of marijuana oversight, including promoting social equity and business opportunities, laboratory testing and public versus private operation of a state-legal cannabis industry.

And during the panel’s first meeting late last year, Frankel said that state-run stores are “certainly an option” he’s considering for Pennsylvania, similar to what New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) recommended for that state last year, though a state commission later shied away from that plan.

The cannabis proposal the Brown filed in the House in April is an identical companion to a bipartisan Senate cannabis legalization measure that was introduced last year.

Doctor’s Lawsuit Over Psilocybin For Cancer Patients Will Be Argued This Summer, With Separate Rescheduling Case Headed To Mediation

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

This story is made possible through Votebeat’s collaboration with Spotlight PA and its Elections 101 series, protecting you against election misinformation and empowering you to make informed decisions.

In 2020, former President Donald Trump’s campaign paid $3 million so Wisconsin would recount votes in two counties.

The result: Joe Biden’s lead grew by 87 votes.

Such a recount would not be possible in Pennsylvania. Here, a recount is automatically ordered if a statewide race falls within a certain margin. Voters can also initiate recounts in their own precincts.

With another highly contentious rematch between the two on the table for this November, an automatic recount cannot be ruled out. In recent years, supporters of losing candidates have also initiated precinct-level recounts that have little chance of changing a race’s outcome but can be used to disrupt the election process.

Here is what you need to know about how recounts work in Pennsylvania:

Why do recounts happen in Pennsylvania?

There are at least two ways a recount can be initiated in Pennsylvania.

Under Pennsylvania law, a recount is automatically triggered for a statewide race if the margin of victory lies within half a percent, and the state and counties pay for the effort. This last happened in the 2022 primary race for the Republican U.S. Senate nominee.

Three voters in a precinct can also request a recount based on their belief that fraud or error occurred. Such a recount only affects ballots cast in the voters’ precinct, which is the smallest voting district, usually just a few hundred voters and sometimes no larger than a city block.

The fee to request such a recount is $50, a price set in 1927 with an equivalent value of $900 today. Critics of Pennsylvania’s nearly 100-year-old election law say this provision makes the state vulnerable to weaponized precinct-level recounts that can delay certification, and argue it should be updated to reflect inflation. Such petitions delayed the certification of the 2022 election.

In 2016, supporters of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed such requests. In court, Stein requested a full recount, arguing the contest had been marred by voting machines susceptible to hacking. She eventually dropped the recount effort after a judge ordered her to post a $1 million bond to cover the cost.

Adam Bonin, a Philadelphia-based attorney who regularly works with Democratic candidates, said he has used precinct-level recount requests before for local races for township supervisor or school board.

In 2023, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that for a recount to be granted, the petitions either need to be filed in all of the precincts where a race takes place or present some kind of evidence of fraud or error. That ruling set a precedent for the whole state.

That barrier is low for races like township supervisor, which may have just a handful of precincts. But for statewide races that would mean filing petitions in all of the state’s more than 9,000 precincts.

How does Pennsylvania recount votes?

Counties must submit their unofficial results to the Pennsylvania Department of State by the first Tuesday following the election, which is Nov. 12 this year. If unofficial results show the margin lies within half a percent for a statewide race like those for president or U.S. Senate, the secretary of the commonwealth will order a recount by Nov. 14, according to a Department of State directive. A losing candidate has until Nov. 13 to request a recount not take place.

Counties will then recount all ballots either by hand or using different tabulation machines than the election was initially conducted with.

The recount must begin by the third Wednesday following the election, which this fall will be Nov. 20, and results must be submitted to the secretary by the following Wednesday, Nov. 27.

In the case of precinct-level recount petitions, requesters must file their petition with the local Court of Common Pleas. A judge will then determine if it meets the legal requirements to take place.

Can a recount change election results?

Recounts that change the outcome of a race are extremely rare, according to a study of statewide recounts by Fair Vote, a nonprofit focused on ranked-choice voting.

The group analyzed nearly 7,000 statewide races between 2000 and 2023, and found only 36 recounts in that time, only three of which resulted in a change of outcome.

“All three reversals occurred when the initial margin was less than 0.06% of all votes cast for the top two candidates,” according to the report.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, there have been seven statewide recounts since the 0.5% rule went into effect in 2004, and none of them changed the outcome of the race.

The most recent was in the 2022 Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

In that race, Mehmet Oz beat Dave McCormick by 902 votes — a margin of 0.07% — triggering the recount. McCormick conceded before the recount was complete, but the count ultimately shifted the margin by only 49 votes, in Oz’s favor.

Voter-initiated precinct-level recounts are even less likely to affect the outcome of a race than those ordered by the secretary.

In 2022, when supporters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano requested recounts around the state, they did not substantially shift the margin in areas where the requests were granted.

Recounts in four Westmoreland County precincts resulted in only a three-vote difference from the original tally. Columbia County also recounted votes in some precincts, and results changed by only one or two votes, officials said at the time.

Could there be a recount this year?

Whether there is an automatic recount of a statewide race this year depends on the margins of victory this November. Current polling indicates the presidential race may be close in Pennsylvania.

If the margin is within half a percent, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt must order a recount by Nov. 14, according to a calendar of this year’s election. Counties would need to submit the results of that recount to the secretary by Nov. 27.

It’s likely at least some voters will request precinct-level recounts, which could negatively affect the state’s certification process. This year, there is a hard deadline for Pennsylvania to provide its certified slate of presidential electors to Congress.

If precinct-level recount petitions delay certification as they did in 2022, the state could run up against that deadline and the courts may be forced to intervene.

Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A man wanted for a 2023 homicide in Shreveport was arrested Wednesday in Pennslyvania.

According to the Coatesville Police Department, officers were investigating a string of burglaries and a crash involving a stolen vehicle that occurred on June 4. They determined a suspect to be 18-year-old Zyun Thomas, who was wanted on a homicide warrant out of Shreveport.

Detectives saw Thomas walk into a convenience store and arrested him after he resisted arrest and attempted to flee.

Thomas faces 3 counts of theft of a motor vehicle, burglary, receiving stolen property, criminal trespass, resisting arrest, and several other related charges on top of the homicide warrant. The crash he caused allegedly caused thousands of dollars in damage to City property and buildings.

Thomas is currently being held in the Chester County Prison in West Chester, Pennslyvania.