Rhode Island lawmakers voted Feb. 4 to abandon legislative veto powers over the state’s medical cannabis and hemp regulations, which they awarded themselves in a state budget proposal last summer.
The House and Senate passed identical bills in unanimous votes that removed the “legislative veto” language from the budget, the Providence Journal reported.
The state budget authorized six additional medical cannabis dispensaries in the state, and originally mandated that all new cannabis regulations be approved by the General Assembly.
This provision resulted in a legal battle with Gov. Gina Raimondo late last year when Raimondo filed a lawsuit in October against the General Assembly to take exclusive control of medical cannabis and hemp regulation.
Lawmakers rewrote the legislation earlier this year, and the House and Senate votes occurred Feb. 4 without debate, the Providence Journal reported.
The bills now go to Raimondo, who is expected to sign them Feb. 5, according to the news outlet.
