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Daily Brew: February 18, 2019

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February 18, 2019

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Today's Brew covers the potential for marijuana-related initiatives in coming years + an end to the deadlock in the Alaska state house.  
The Daily Brew

Welcome to the Monday, February 18 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Marijuana-related ballot measures have been proposed in six states for 2019 and 2020
  2. Alaska House elects a speaker, ends a record-length deadlock
  3. Four years have passed since Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber's resignation

Where could marijuana be on the ballot in 2019 and 2020?

Marijuana-related ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots in six states in 2018. Michigan voters approved recreational marijuana, and North Dakota voters rejected it. Voters in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Missouri all approved measures related to medical marijuana legalization.

So where can citizens put marijuana on the ballot in 2019 and 2020?

Recreational marijuana legalization measures have been proposed in Ohio for 2019 and Arizona for 2020. They are among the 10 states that allow citizen initiatives and have legalized medical but not recreational marijuana. Voters in both states rejected marijuana legalization initiatives in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Medical marijuana legalization measures have been proposed for 2020 in South Dakota, Mississippi, and Nebraska. They are among the 24 states that allow citizens to initiate legislation and are three of those five that have not legalized medical marijuana or allowed cannabis oil (the others are Idaho and Wyoming).

In Florida, two 2020 initiatives were proposed to amend the state’s medical marijuana amendment that was passed in 2016. In Washington, a 2019 measure was proposed to ban marijuana cultivation, processing, and sales in residential zones. Marijuana legalization could come through state legislatures as well. So far, Vermont is the only state that has legalized possession and use of recreational marijuana through a legislative bill rather than a citizen initiative.

At a glance

States with the initiative process that have legalized medical marijuana but not recreational marijuana:

  • Arizona (two different measures to legalize recreational proposed for 2020), Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Ohio (measure to legalize recreational proposed for 2019)

States with the initiative process that have not legalized either medical marijuana or recreational marijuana:

  • Idaho, Mississippi (one measure to legalize medical and one measure to legalize recreational and medical proposed for 2020), Nebraska (measure to legalize recreational proposed for 2020), South Dakota (measure to legalize recreational proposed for 2020), Wyoming
Learn more

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Alaska House elects Bryce Edgmon speaker, ending 30 days of deadlock

Rep. Bryce Edgmon was elected speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives Thursday, one day after he switched his party affiliation from Democrat to unenrolled. Edgmon was House speaker in 2017 and 2018. The latest vote, decided 21 to 18, ended a 30-day period without a majority in place in the House, the longest in state history.

Voting for Edgmon (besides himself) were:

  • All 15 House Democrats,
  • independent Daniel Ortiz,
  • and Republicans Louise Stutes, Gabrielle LeDoux, Jennifer B. Johnston, and Charles M. Kopp.

Eighteen other House Republicans voted against Edgmon.

Johnston and Kopp had not previously supported Edgmon. They had formerly backed Republican leader David Talerico. Rep. Gary Knopp, another Republican who did not support Talerico for speaker, was not present for the vote.

Stutes and LeDoux were part of the bipartisan coalition Edgmon led from 2017 to 2018. Both won Republican primary elections in 2018 against candidates that had been backed by the state Republican Party. They opposed Talerico for speaker.

With a speaker in place, Democrats and Republicans are expected to share control of the House. Edgmon told the press that Kopp would serve as majority leader, Rep. Steve Thompson (R) would chair the Rules Committee and Reps. Tammie Wilson (R) and Neal Foster (D) would co-chair the Finance Committee.

Other recent examples of state legislative chambers with shared power agreements: the Oklahoma Senate in 2006 and Oregon House in 2010.

Four years ago: John Kitzhaber's resignation as Oregon governor

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) resigned four years ago today. He was replaced by Secretary of State Kate Brown (D).

Kitzhaber, who was first elected in 1994 and won re-election in 1998, 2010, and 2014, had been the subject of three ethics complaints filed the previous year over conflicts of interest stemming from his fiancée Cylvia Hayes' role as both an informal advisor and as a paid consultant. Hayes had acted as a consultant on energy and economic issues while advising Kitzhaber on the same topics.

Kitzhaber announced his resignation on February 13, 2015. Secretary of State Kate Brown (D) was first in the line of succession, as Oregon is one of five states without an office of lieutenant governor. Brown was elected to complete the remainder of Kitzhaber's term in 2016 and elected to a full term in 2018.

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission investigation found that Kitzhaber had committed 10 ethics violations in a report released on February 14, 2018. Kitzhaber negotiated a settlement with the commission in which he agreed to pay $2,000 for each violation. The commission also found that Hayes had committed 22 ethics violations, with a potential fine of $5,000 for each. As of February 2019, Hayes and the commission have not reached a settlement.

Four governors have resigned since 2013 before the end of their term. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) and Terry Branstad (R-Iowa) took positions in the Trump administration, and Robert Bentley (R-Ala.) and Eric Greitens (R-Mo.) resigned in the wake of allegations of misconduct.


See also

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