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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are both advocating for the legalization of marijuana as ways of boosting state coffers to meet financial obligations.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo plans to call on the state legislature there to legalize recreational marijuana during his first budget address in 2019.
A spokesperson for the governor told NBC News that they were in the process of drafting legislation for marijuana legalization. The governor’s spokesperson also said that they had appointed a 16-member working group to draft the legislation, as well as, to hold public hearings.
Earlier this year, the Governor had launched a working group to make legislative recommendations that were based on a multi-agency study on “regulated marijuana” that had been presented in July.
The group concluded that “the positive effects of a regulated marijuana market in New York State outweigh the potential negative impacts.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is seeking to legalize marijuana, as part of several measures toward knocking down the city’s public pension debt. And the amount of that debt is staggering. Five years from now, the city of Chicago will be facing $1 billion in annual, required, retirement payments.
In seeking ways to raise additional funds for the city, among the measures the mayor is proposing our legalizing marijuana and opening a city-owned casino.
However, one of Mayor Emanuel’s proposals that is not finding favor with fellow lawmakers and officials is that of creating an amendment to the state’s constitution that would allow for a reduction in public workers’ pension benefits, which many are dismissing or calling a non-starter. Officials have also said that an increase in property taxes is not on the table.
However, legalizing marijuana isn’t a city issue – it’s a state issue. Marijuana would need to be approved in Illinois’ capital of Springfield to be legalized at the state level.
