Odds are Congress will leave town without carrying out Republican members’ threatened interference in the District’s gun laws or marijuana decriminalization legislation.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s amendments to a sportsman’s hunting bill, aimed at killing DC’s gun control laws, were rendered harmless when the hunting bill itself died Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, amendments offered by Maryland Representative Andy Harris that would defund the District’s pot decriminalization laws will almost certainly not make it past the Senate.
DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton doesn’t expect any other attempts to change the District’s regulation of firearms to succeed now that Paul’s gun amendments flat-out failed. “They’re becoming less and less serious,” she tells Washingtonian. “The NRA has gone on to other things.”
Harris’s amendment has a good chance of making it out of the House. The Republican, who represents counties around Baltimore and along the Chesapeake Bay, amended a House appropriations bill to prevent the District from using funds to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. That bill is likely to reach the House floor next week and get approved.
“I’m having to fight a little harder on that one,” says Norton.
But the Senate will not consider the spending legislation with Harris’s language. Senate appropriations committees are done for the year and cannot take up the House bills. Congress will most likely fund the government with short-term, continuing resolutions. These resolutions rarely include amendments like the one Harris attached.
“While our goal is to include this language in any bill that will fund the government after September 30,” says Harris’s spokesman Chris Meekins, “that question is still up in the air.”
Translation: Congress will not interfere with the District’s legislation, and possession of small amounts of pot will be decriminalized in the nation’s capital.
Congress May Not Interfere With DC’s Marijuana Decriminalization Legislation, After All
An amendment blocking the new policy will likely not make it out of the Senate.
Odds are Congress will leave town without carrying out Republican members’ threatened interference in the District’s gun laws or marijuana decriminalization legislation.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s amendments to a sportsman’s hunting bill, aimed at killing DC’s gun control laws, were rendered harmless when the hunting bill itself died Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, amendments offered by Maryland Representative Andy Harris that would defund the District’s pot decriminalization laws will almost certainly not make it past the Senate.
DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton doesn’t expect any other attempts to change the District’s regulation of firearms to succeed now that Paul’s gun amendments flat-out failed. “They’re becoming less and less serious,” she tells Washingtonian. “The NRA has gone on to other things.”
Harris’s amendment has a good chance of making it out of the House. The Republican, who represents counties around Baltimore and along the Chesapeake Bay, amended a House appropriations bill to prevent the District from using funds to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. That bill is likely to reach the House floor next week and get approved.
“I’m having to fight a little harder on that one,” says Norton.
But the Senate will not consider the spending legislation with Harris’s language. Senate appropriations committees are done for the year and cannot take up the House bills. Congress will most likely fund the government with short-term, continuing resolutions. These resolutions rarely include amendments like the one Harris attached.
“While our goal is to include this language in any bill that will fund the government after September 30,” says Harris’s spokesman Chris Meekins, “that question is still up in the air.”
Translation: Congress will not interfere with the District’s legislation, and possession of small amounts of pot will be decriminalized in the nation’s capital.
Most Popular in News & Politics
What It Felt Like for a Virginia Marching Band to Win Metallica’s Contest
Meet the 2023 Washingtonians of the Year
What’s IN and OUT in DC Restaurant Trends for 2024
Introducing 8 of DC’s Most Stylish
Washingtonian Magazine
May 2024: Great Getaways
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
13 Major Concerts and Music Festivals in the DC Area This Spring
Mary Timony on Her Emotional New Album, “Untame the Tiger”
The Beatles in DC: A New Exhibit in Maryland Looks Back on Early Beatlemania
Northern Virginia High School Wins Metallica’s Marching Band Competition
More from News & Politics
Former Fiola GM Convicted of Murder Is Now in a Netflix Docuseries
These 5 DC Traffic Cams Are Issuing the Most Tickets Right Now
Farewell to Crystal City Underground, the DC Area’s Strangest Mall
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2024
Inside the Urgent Effort to Preserve Black Newspapers
Maryland Has Renamed an Invasive Fish. Will It Matter?
Meet the 2024 Washington Women in Journalism Award Winners
In the Doghouse: Kristi Noem and 5 Other Canine Political Scandals