Senator Louise Lucas wants to use tax revenue raised by a legal retail weed market in Virginia to cover federal spending cuts.
“We have an inescapable responsibility to generate/create a long term and sustainable source of revenue to safeguard core programs and services,” the Senate President said in a text message Thursday morning.
Virginia decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana back in 2021, but the substance remains illegal to sell. Democrats in the legislature passed a legal retail market earlier this year only to have the effort vetoed. They’re now working toward a new package of legislation.
University of Mary Washington Political Science Professor Stephen Farnsworth said funding gaps include forthcoming rate hikes for those on Affordable Care Act healthcare plans and hits to tax revenue from federal layoffs.
"Virginia is going to have to figure out how to generate significant additional cash to compensate for the economic challenges that come from President Trump's policies," he said.
Lucas, who is a partner in a cannabis outlet in her Portsmouth district, has helped pass bills for retail legalization for years, but Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed it both times it landed on his desk citing children’s safety concerns.
Democratic Delegate Paul Krizek, who heads a committee designed to form a legal market, said the legislature is being deliberate in crafting the bill.
“The top priority is making sure that we're not setting people up to fail and that we're that we have good strict oversight mechanisms, and there’s phased expansion, but we'll get it going as soon as judiciously possible,” Krizek said.
Questions also remain as to whether Virginia’s next governor would sign such a bill.
Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger said in a statement she supports a retail market that “prioritizes public safety and grows the Virginia economy.”
Requests for comment sent to the Republican Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign were not returned.
There’s also questions about how quickly a retail market could get up and running as long as an “opt-out” referendum option for localities remains in the bill.
But advocates like Chelsea Higgs Wise with Marijuana Justice fear localized opt outs could create an unequal patchwork of laws across the state.
“It would create holes and inequities throughout Virginia and ultimately increase the illicit market,” Wise warned.
Former Delegate Greg Habeeb works for the Virginia Cannabis Association; he said the opt-out language could still be up for debate.
“I think there are a lot of advocates who believe this should be a statewide policy,” he said. “And I think there are others who want to give it an opportunity to opt out.”
Both Wise and Habeeb said earlier iterations of the bill included the "opt-out" provision in an attempt to garner bipartisan support, though recent efforts received few votes from those on the right in the end.
Those close to the market's development suggested to Radio IQ increasing how much a locality could tax retail markets, on top of a still-undecided state tax, could also help incentivize state-wide acceptance.
Republicans who did support legal markets told Radio IQ they'd have to see final language before commenting on future legislation.
And finally, and perhaps crucially, any opt out resolution instigated head of the 2026 election could see a vote for legal weed retail alongside a vote for a congressional candidate.
"If Democrats are worried about losing the under-30 voters, this is a potential way to bring them back on board," Farnsworth said of tacking a retail weed vote on to the midterm elections.
For Krizek, it’s a matter of taking in lessons learned from the other states who already have legal markets.
“We want to avoid the pitfalls of market oversupply and then the collapsing prices and revenue shortfalls that happen with places like Colorado in California,” he said.
There are still two more meetings of Krizek's committee before the 2026 legislative session begins.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
