Big Votes On 3 NJ Bills: Marijuana, Vaccines, Drivers Licenses – Point Pleasant, NJ Patch

NEW JERSEY – Lawmakers will vote on three bills on Monday that could change millions of lives in New Jersey.

One bill would schedule a referendum to amend the New Jersey Constitution and legalize marijuana. The vote to legalize would be held in November 2020. Read more: Big Move Toward Legalizing Marijuana In NJ Is Set

Another would create three big changes to driver’s licenses, including expanding access to undocumented immigrants. Drivers could end up paying more, too. Read more: 3 Big Changes Involving NJ Driver’s Licenses, MVC Expected

A third bill would eliminate religious or “personal beliefs” as a valid exemption to vaccines – a plan that has drawn large protests in Trenton in recent days. Read more: NJ Parents Make Final Push To Save Religious Vaccine Exemptions

Patch will have a live update on the votes that will take place in the state Senate and Assembly after 1 p.m.

Gov. Phil Murphy will need to sign all three bills in order for them to become law.

Here is what each bill entails:

Legalizing marijuana

The bill, ACR840, would call for a vote to amend the State Constitution to legalize marijuana for personal, non-medical use by adults who are 21 years of age or older.

The amendment would provide that all receipts from the retail purchases of marijuana should be subject to the sales tax, but New Jersey towns could add their own tax as well. The municipal tax rate would not exceed 2 percent of the receipts from each sale, according to the legislation.

After a last-ditch attempt to get legislative approval, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sen. Nicholas Scutari, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said recently that they will seek voter approval of a constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use marijuana in New Jersey.

The initiative, they said, “will bring cannabis out of the underground so that it can be controlled to ensure a safe product, strictly regulated to limit use to adults and have sales subjected to the sales tax.”

“We will have the Legislature vote on the plan during the current legislative session and expect the proposal to be on the ballot in 2020, when voter turnout will be maximized for the national election,” they said. “We are confident it will be approved by the Senate, the Assembly and the voters.”

Gov. Phil Murphy also released a statement:

“My belief that our current marijuana laws have failed every test of social justice and that the right course is to legalize its use by adults has not changed. I am disappointed that we are not able to get this done legislatively and that our failed status quo – which sends roughly 600 people to jail a week for possession, the majority of them people of color — will continue.

“However, I have faith that the people of New Jersey will put us on the right side of history when they vote next November. By approving this ballot measure before the end of this legislative session, New Jersey will move one step closer to righting a historical wrong and achieving what I have spent more than three years advocating for.”

Efforts to pass the bill earlier in the year fell about 5 votes short. Read more: New Jersey Cancels Vote On Marijuana Legalization

Those no-votes included Sen. Richard Codey, the former acting governor, and Sen. Ron Rice, both D-Essex. Rice, a former police officer, said he prefers to decriminalize the drug.

If it’s approved in November 2020, pot wouldn’t be sold in stores for another six months to a year after that because of the lengthy regulatory process that needs to be developed.

Driver’s licenses

The legislation, A4743/S3229, would create a two-license system in New Jersey, including a REAL ID federal license and a standard license for driving and identification purposes for qualified drivers. The bill would essentially expand access to undocumented immigrants, survivors of domestic violence and others who face barriers meeting the REAL ID requirement.

The same legislation would also would permit the Motor Vehicle Commission to “increase certain fees,” though it’s not exactly clear what fees the MVC would want to raise.

The bill to expand access to drivers licenses, introduced by Assemblywoman Annette Quijano and Senator Joseph Vitale, is mainly intended to help immigrants and others who face barriers in obtaining a license under the REAL ID program.

Supporters say the proposed legislation is a “common sense” solution for the numerous New Jerseyans who need a driver’s licenses to provide and care for their families.

Hundreds have rallied outside the Trenton Statehouse to call for prioritization of legislation to expand access to driver’s licenses. Rally-goers from across the state have been joined by several members of the legislature, all pushing for the legislation’s passage now that the November election is over.

In New Jersey, more than 700,000 residents lack access to a state-issued driver’s license, supporters say. Many lack access because of their immigration status, but also because of their low-income status, they’re formerly incarcerated, they’re homeless and their survivors of domestic violence, supporters say.

Vaccine exemptions

Hundreds of parents in New Jersey have been protesting what they say is an invasion of their civil rights and liberties — a proposal by the New Jersey state Senate to eliminate religious or “personal beliefs” as a valid exemption to vaccines.

After measles outbreaks in Rockland County and Brooklyn, New York state removed the religious exemptions to vaccines last year. New Jersey was quick to follow in New York’s footsteps, when Vitale, a Democrat from Middlesex County, and Sen. Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat from Bergen County, introduced the bill to void religious exemptions earlier this year.

If the bill passes, parents can still choose to not vaccinate their children, but the kids will not be allowed to attend New Jersey public schools. Currently, parents can claim a religious or personal exemption to having their child vaccinated, and the child can still attend public school.