HB972
Marijuana; definitions, possession and consumption, civil penalties, report.
Summary
As Passed House of Origin. Possession and consumption of marijuana; penalty.
Decriminalizes simple marijuana possession and provides a civil penalty of no more than $25. Current law imposes a maximum fine of $500 and a maximum 30-day jail sentence for a first offense, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill provides that any violation of simple possession of ... (More) marijuana may be charged by a summons in form the same as the uniform summons for motor vehicle law violations and that no court costs shall be assessed for such violations. The bill also provides that a person's criminal history record information shall not include records of any charges or judgments for such violations and records of such charges or judgements shall not be reported to the Central Criminal Records Exchange. Additionally, the bill provides that the suspended sentence/substance abuse screening provisions and driver's license suspension provisions apply only to criminal violations or to civil violations by a juvenile. The bill defines "marijuana" to include hashish oil and creates a rebuttable presumption that a person who possesses no more than one-half ounce of marijuana possesses it for personal use. The bill also (i) makes records relating to the arrest, criminal charge, or conviction of possession of marijuana not open to public inspection and disclosure, except in certain circumstances; (ii) prohibits employers and educational institutions from requiring an applicant for employment or admission to disclose information related to such arrest, criminal charge, or conviction; and (iii) prohibits agencies, officials, and employees of the state and local governments from requiring an applicant for a license, permit, registration, or governmental service to disclose information concerning such arrest, criminal charge, or conviction. Finally, the bill requires the Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry, Finance, Health and Human Resources, and Public Safety and Homeland Security to convene a work group to study the impact on the Commonwealth of legalizing the sale and personal use of marijuana and report the recommendations of the work group to the General Assembly and the Governor by November 1, 2021. This bill incorporates HB 265, HB 301, and HB 481. (Less)-
Bill History
- 01/07/2020 - House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103384D
- 01/07/2020 - House: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
- 02/03/2020 - House: Impact statement from DPB (HB972)
- 02/05/2020 - House: House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- 02/05/2020 - House: Committee substitute printed 20107729D-H1
- 02/05/2020 - House: Incorporates HB265 (Heretick)
- 02/05/2020 - House: Incorporates HB481 (Kory)
- 02/05/2020 - House: Incorporates HB301 (Levine)
- 02/05/2020 - House: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 8-N)
- 02/06/2020 - House: Read first time
- 02/07/2020 - House: Read second time
- 02/07/2020 - House: Committee substitute agreed to 20107729D-H1
- 02/07/2020 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB972H1
- 02/10/2020 - House: Read third time and passed House (64-Y 34-N)
- 02/10/2020 - House: VOTE: Passage (64-Y 34-N) Close Floor Vote
- 02/11/2020 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed
- 02/11/2020 - Senate: Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
- 02/14/2020 - House: Impact statement from DPB (HB972H1)
- 02/19/2020 - Senate: Reported from Judiciary with substitute (10-Y 4-N)
- 02/19/2020 - Senate: Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
- 02/19/2020 - Senate: Committee substitute printed 20108635D-S1
- 02/25/2020 - Senate: Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 2-N)
- 02/25/2020 - House: Impact statement from DPB (HB972S1)
- 02/25/2020 - Senate: Committee substitute printed 20108924D-S2
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Read third time
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Committee substitute rejected 20108635D-S1
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Reading of substitute waived
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Committee substitute agreed to 20108924D-S2
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Passed by temporarily
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB972S2
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Passed Senate with substitute (27-Y 13-N)
- 02/26/2020 - House: Senate substitute rejected by House 20108924D-S2 (0-Y 93-N)
- 02/26/2020 - House: VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 93-N)
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Senate insisted on substitute (40-Y 0-N)
- 02/26/2020 - Senate: Senate requested conference committee
- 02/27/2020 - House: House acceded to request
- 02/27/2020 - House: Conferees appointed by House
- 02/27/2020 - House: Delegates: Herring, Heretick, Collins
- 02/27/2020 - Senate: Conferees appointed by Senate
- 02/27/2020 - Senate: Senators: Ebbin, Morrissey, Stanley
- 03/02/2020 - House: Impact statement from DPB (HB972S2)
- 03/05/2020 - Conference: Amended by conference committee
- 03/05/2020 - House: First Conference substitute printed 20109632D-H2
- 03/07/2020 - House: Conference report agreed to by House (57-Y 39-N)
- 03/07/2020 - House: VOTE: Adoption (57-Y 39-N) Close Floor Vote
- 03/07/2020 - House: House requested second conference committee
- 03/07/2020 - Senate: Conference report rejected by Senate (2-Y 38-N)
- 03/07/2020 - Senate: Senate requested second conference committee (27-Y 13-N)
- 03/07/2020 - Senate: Senate acceded to request for second conference committee (27-Y 12-N)
- 03/07/2020 - Senate: Second conferees appointed by Senate
- 03/07/2020 - Senate: Senators: Ebbin, Morrissey, Stanley
- 03/07/2020 - House: Second conferees appointed by House
- 03/07/2020 - House: Delegates: Herring, Heretick, Collins
- 03/08/2020 - House: Second Conference substitute printed 20109945D-H3
- 03/08/2020 - House: Conference report agreed to by House (56-Y 36-N)
- 03/08/2020 - House: VOTE: Adoption (56-Y 36-N) Close Floor Vote
- 03/08/2020 - Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (27-Y 12-N)
- 03/18/2020 - House: Enrolled
- 03/18/2020 - House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB972ER)
- 03/18/2020 - Senate: Signed by President
- 03/19/2020 - House: Signed by Speaker
- 03/20/2020 - House: Impact statement from DPB (HB972ER)
- 03/20/2020 - House: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
- 03/20/2020 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- 04/11/2020 - House: Governor's recommendation received by House
- 04/22/2020 - House: Placed on Calendar
- 04/22/2020 - House: House concurred in Governor's recommendation (59-Y 34-N)
- 04/22/2020 - House: VOTE: (59-Y 34-N) Close Floor Vote
- 04/22/2020 - House: Reconsideration of Governor's recommendation agreed to
- 04/22/2020 - House: Passed by temporarily
- 04/22/2020 - House: House concurred in Governor's recommendation #'s 1-5 and 7-17 (58-Y 35-N)
- 04/22/2020 - House: VOTE: Agree to (58-Y 35-N) Close Floor Vote
- 04/22/2020 - House: House rejected Governor's recommendation #6 (1-Y 90-N)
- 04/22/2020 - House: VOTE: Agree to (1-Y 90-N)
- 04/22/2020 - Senate: Senate rejected Governor's recommendation #17 (5-Y 35-N)
- 04/22/2020 - Senate: Senate concurred in Governor's recommendations #1-5 #7-16 (26-Y 14-N) Close Floor Vote
- 04/22/2020 - Governor: Governor's recommendation adopted in-part
- 04/22/2020 - House: Reenrolled
- 04/22/2020 - House: Reenrolled bill text (HB972ER2)
- 04/22/2020 - House: Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
- 04/22/2020 - Senate: Signed by President as reenrolled
- 04/29/2020 - House: Reenrolled Bill communicated to Governor on April 29, 2020
- 04/29/2020 - Governor: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., May 22, 2020
- 05/21/2020 - Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 1285 (effective 7/1/20)
- 05/21/2020 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1285)
