Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro just made his third straight budget plea for adult-use cannabis, and this time he’s not asking nicely. In a fiery interview with WPVI-TV Philadelphia, the Democratic governor threw down the gauntlet: legalize marijuana this session or admit you’re not doing your job.
Shapiro dropped his 2025-26 budget proposal this month and once again included full adult-use marijuana legalization. The plan would create a tightly regulated market, tax sales at 6.625 percent (the state sales tax rate) plus a new 15 percent cannabis excise tax, and direct revenue toward small business grants, restorative justice programs, and property tax relief.
His administration projects $250 million in new revenue in the first full year alone, climbing after that.
This is the third consecutive Shapiro budget that lists legal weed as a line item. The previous two died quietly in the Republican-controlled Senate.
“If They Show Up for Work, They Can Get It Done”
When WPVI anchor Brian Taff asked the governor if he really expects the legislature to pass legalization this year, Shapiro didn’t hesitate.
“I do,” he said. “Look, if they show up for work, there’s no reason why they can’t do it.”
The blunt answer instantly went viral among Pennsylvania’s growing cannabis reform community and put Republican legislative leaders on the defensive before they even returned to Harrisburg.
Reform Groups to Shapiro: Lead or Get Out of the Way
Hours after the interview aired, a coalition of drug policy and civil liberties organizations fired off a joint letter to the governor.
The groups — including the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, NORML Pennsylvania, and the Marijuana Policy Project — praised Shapiro’s continued inclusion of legalization but said budget language alone is no longer enough.
They urged him to personally convene a working group of House and Senate leaders, set a hard deadline, and use the full weight of his office to force a vote before the session ends in November.
“Governor Shapiro has shown he gets it,” the letter reads. “Now he needs to show he can finish it.”
The Math That Even Fiscal Conservatives Can’t Ignore
Pennsylvania is now completely surrounded by legal recreational markets: New Jersey to the east, New York to the north, Delaware and Maryland to the south, Ohio to the west, and medical-plus-decriminalization Michigan just across the lake.
Every year the legislature delays, Pennsylvania residents spend an estimated $800 million to $1 billion on black-market weed or simply drive across state lines.
New Jersey collected $116 million in cannabis tax revenue in its first year. Ohio is on pace to top $400 million in its debut year. Pennsylvania gets zero.
A Franklin & Marshall College poll last October showed 59 percent of Pennsylvania voters now support full adult-use legalization — the highest number ever recorded in the state.
Even in rural Republican districts, support has climbed above 50 percent in several recent surveys.
What Happens Next
Senate Republicans have historically blocked reform bills in committee. But the political ground is shifting fast. Several GOP senators now openly support legalization, and Leader Joe Pittman said earlier this year the chamber is “having real conversations” about the issue.
Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, who presides over the Senate, has also made cannabis reform one of his top priorities.
With budget negotiations set to heat up this spring and summer, Shapiro appears ready to make legalization a red-line issue.
Pennsylvania could finally join the 24 states that have already ended prohibition — or watch another year of tax dollars drive across the border while the black market keeps thriving.
The governor’s message to lawmakers was crystal clear: show up, do the work, and get it done.
