On Wednesday, March 30th, the House Rules Committee formally advanced the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act (H.R. 3617). A full chamber vote took place on Friday, April 1st, and the legislation was passed in a vote of 220-204. The last time the MORE Act went to the floor in December 2020, it passed in a 228-164 vote, with five Republicans joining Democrats to advance the reform. Also on Wednesday, a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report found that the MORE Act would “add billions in revenues and reduce prison costs over the next decade.” Additionally, CBO estimates that the federal Small Business Administration will provide $1.4 billion “in grants to states and localities to make business loans to related small businesses and to develop cannabis-licensing rules.”  The MORE Act is expected to have an uphill battle in the Senate.

 

Updated 4/1/2022 10:05 AM Pacific Time