{"id":7701,"date":"2017-09-07T05:30:08","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T05:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=2779040"},"modified":"2017-09-07T05:30:08","modified_gmt":"2017-09-07T05:30:08","slug":"gop-led-house-rules-committee-blocks-voting-on-marijuana-amendments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/gop-led-house-rules-committee-blocks-voting-on-marijuana-amendments\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP-led House Rules Committee blocks voting on marijuana amendments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/gop-led-house-rules-committee-blocks-voting-on-marijuana-amendments\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Sep 6, 2017, 10:21 pm \u2022 Updated: Sep 7, 2017, 11:17 am<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/alabak\/\" rel=\"author\">Aleta Labak<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. House Committee on Rules has blocked a number of marijuana-related amendments from a federal appropriations bill, including the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/Rohrabacher-Blumenauer-medical-marijuana-Amendment\/\">Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The GOP-led\u00a0committee\u2019s moves late Wednesday mean multiple amendments protecting existing and future state marijuana laws won\u2019t be getting a vote on the House floor. Earlier Wednesday, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/video\/lawmaker-interviews\/349492-house-gop-blocks-vote-protecting-medical-marijuana-states\">told The Hill<\/a> that GOP leaders viewed the amendments as potentially divisive and planned to not have them go to a vote.<\/p>\n<p>The most notable measure cast out of the must-pass appropriations bill was\u00a0the\u00a0Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, which would bar the Justice Department from using funds to interfere with existing state-enacted medical marijuana regulations. The amendment formerly known as Rohrabacher-Farr (Rep. Sam Farr has retired)\u00a0has been in place since late 2014, when it received a 219-189 vote in the House, and was approved again in 2015, by a 242-186 vote. It has been extended through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/05\/08\/rohrabacher-medical-marijuana-supreme-court\/79109\/\">omnibus spending legislation<\/a> set to expire at the end of this month.<\/p>\n<p>The committee\u2019s removal of the medical marijuana protections from the House bill does not kill the amendment, and it still has a chance of making it into the legislation that lays out annual funding for the federal government. In late July, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/07\/27\/senate-appropriations-medical-marijuana\/84714\/\">Senate Appropriations Committee authorized<\/a>\u00a0the amendment for inclusion in the larger spending bill. Once the House version is passed, it faces reconciliation with that Senate version by a conference committee.<\/p>\n<p>In a joint statement released Wednesday night, amendment sponsors Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, condemned the committee\u2019s decision, saying the move \u201cgoes against the will of the American people\u201d and \u201cis putting at risk the millions of patients who rely on medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur fight to protect medical marijuana patients is far from over,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cThe marijuana reform movement is large and growing. This bad decision by the House Rules Committee is an affront to the 46 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized use and distribution of some form of medical marijuana. These programs serve millions of Americans. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis setback, however, is not the final word. As House and Senate leadership negotiate a long-term funding bill, we will fight to maintain current protections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As The Cannabist\u2019s Alicia Wallace <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/09\/06\/house-rules-committee-marijuana-amendments\/87391\/\">previously reported<\/a>, the potential short-term funding deal revealed Wednesday likely would include the existing Rohrabacher-Farr language, extending those protections through year\u2019s end if it is approved.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier Wednesday, Rohrabacher, and co-sponsors Blumenauer, and Jared Polis, D-Colorado, all testified before the committee that the medical marijuana protections are existing law and that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/08\/08\/marijuana-legalization-opinion-poll-americans\/85562\/\">public opinion<\/a> is in favor of the existing medical cannabis regulations in 46 states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo deny (members of Congress) the right to have a vote, I think, is unconscionable,\u201d Rohrabacher told the committee.<\/p>\n<p>Said Blumenauer: \u201cIt would be a tragic mistake to lose the progress that we made.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Three amendments on banking were offered, sponsored by Dennis \u201cDenny\u201d Heck, D-Washington. They would have allowed for marijuana businesses to have access to banking by prohibiting the punishment of financial institutions that serve licensed marijuana businesses and preventing the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network from rescinding\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2014\/02\/14\/feds-ok-marijuana-banking-federal-government-colorado\/4671\/\">its guidance for banks<\/a>\u00a0that work with marijuana firms.<\/p>\n<p>The measures were rejected on an 8-5 vote, with the four Democrats on the committee joined by Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington in favor of the banking amendments.<\/p>\n<p>Other amendments blocked by the committee included <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/09\/01\/rep-matt-gaetz-medical-marijuana-research-budget-amendment\/87158\/\">additional protection for medical marijuana research<\/a>, sponsored by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, and another allowing the District of Columbia to use local funding to regulate and tax recreational marijuana, which D.C. legalized in 2014.<\/p>\n<p><em>Staff Writer Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>House Rules Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/rules.house.gov\/committee-rules-members\">members<\/a>:<\/strong><br \/>Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas (chair)<br \/>Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma (vice-chair)<br \/>Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Georgia<br \/>Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas<br \/>Rep. Doug Collins, R-Georgia<br \/>Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Alabama<br \/>Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington<br \/>Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colorado<br \/>Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming<br \/>Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-New York (ranking minority member)<br \/>Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts<br \/>Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Florida<br \/>Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado<\/p>\n<p><strong>Watch the committee hearing:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\">[embedded content]<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/alabak\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/gop-led-house-rules-committee-blocks-voting-on-marijuana-amendments.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">This Colorado native joined The Cannabist in January 2014 as a digital producer, after working behind the scenes for The Denver Post since 1999 in News, Features and Sports as a copy editor and designer. These are fascinating times,&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>The GOP-led House Rules Committee rejected a number of marijuana-related amendments from a federal appropriations bill, most notably Rohrabacher-Blumenauer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6813,77,5667,56,9,6833,6855,5019,441,1,3,7164,61,1736],"tags":[6818,2655,5673,2636,6835,6856,5022,3015,7166],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}