Push for legal marijuana is stalled in New York government

Time is ticking for New York’s governor and state lawmakers as they continue to hash out a deal to fund the government for the coming fiscal year. As the Monday deadline approaches to approve the budget, the push for legalizing adult-use cannabis does not appear to have made the cut.

The Albany Times-Union reported Thursday legalized marijuana appeared to be out of the budget. But at the start of the week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office told CBS New York’s Marcia Kramer the governor was still “negotiating to legalize marijuana by the end of the legislative session in June.”

By Tuesday, Cuomo signaled he had fully moved on from including adult-use cannabis in his proposal when he told WNYC public radio he couldn’t allot money from marijuana sales given the uncertainty coming from lawmakers on a deal being reached.

“The revenue wasn’t counted.” Cuomo said. “Not because in the delay in the revenue but because the legislative leaders said they were unsure that it would be done in the budget and therefore I can’t count revenue on an item that we’re not sure to include.” [Read more at CBS News]