House concurs in Senate amendments to cannabis bill after deleting cannabis showcase pilot

The House concurred in the Senate proposal of amendment to House Bill 321, an act relating to miscellaneous cannabis amendments, after adopting a further amendment that removes the cannabis “showcase event” pilot permit from the Senate’s changes.

Representative Harrison, member from Chittenden, offered an amendment that deleted sections 15(a) and 15(b) of the Senate proposal of amendment — the provisions creating a cannabis showcase event permit pilot — and the House adopted that change after a committee straw poll supported the amendment. Representative Harrison said the amendment removes the pilot provision for now and leaves room for the Cannabis Control Board to recommend guardrails for such events in a future year.

Earlier in the day, the House suspended rules to permit immediate reconsideration of its earlier concurrence vote on the Senate proposal of amendment with a further amendment; the member from Vergennes and the member from Vergennes’s committee offered the further amendment that was then amended by Representative Harrison. After the House amended the proposal of amendment, the body concurred in the Senate proposal of amendment with further amendment as amended. The House then suspended rules to message its action on H.321 to the Senate forthwith.

Floor action included motions to suspend the rules to permit immediate reconsideration and to message the House’s action to the Senate. A committee straw poll on Representative Harrison’s deletion amendment returned a 7-0-4 favorable recommendation before the floor vote. The transcript records that the House concurred in the amended Senate proposal by voice vote and later suspended rules to message the action to the Senate. The session recessed after messaging the Senate.