Texas’ legislature failed to pass a comprehensive medical cannabis regime before the end of the session and, according to the Texas Cannabis Report, the failure was due to the Calendars Committee not receiving paperwork for the bill on time.
According to the report, the measure was not heard by the Public Health Committee until one week before the end of the legislative session. By the end of that hearing, which lasted until almost 2:00 am, 77 of the House’s 150 members had signed on in support — enough to pass the bill. The bill was passed by the committee on Friday, 7-2.
Heather Fazio, a member of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, said that Health Committee Chair Rep. Four Price might have had “his heart and mind” opened by the testimony at the hearing.
“He still wasn’t ready to vote for the bill himself, but he was attentive during the hearing and demonstrated exceptional character when he allowed the bill to be voted on by the committee,” Fazio said in the report.
On Monday, the bill hadn’t been scheduled by the Calendar Committee because, they said, the paperwork hadn’t arrived. On Tuesday, it came too late for the House to take up. The next opportunity to revisit the legislation is 2019 as the Texas legislature meets every other year from January through May.
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