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A week after state lawmakers delayed a vote on expanding medical marijuana in New Jersey over fears that Gov. Phil Murphy would veto the bill, a new plan to grow the program has emerged and legislators are moving quickly.

The state Assembly Appropriations Committee approved the bill Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 9-1 with one abstention. Both legislative houses, the Assembly and Senate, are expected to vote on the bill Thursday and send it to Murphy’s desk.

The legislation was not immediately available from the committee but NJ Advance Media obtained a version of the bill, A20, circulating Tuesday morning among insiders and lawmakers.

Much of the plan sticks to familiar territory — adding medical marijuana providers, creating a Cannabis Regulatory Commission, giving small businesses and minority owners a chance to enter the industry — but there have been a few changes, mainly in response to Murphy’s concerns.

Last week, the Democratic governor sent lawmakers a list of suggested changes to the medical marijuana bill. Murphy had warned that he would veto the expansion plan if the Democratic-controlled state Legislature didn’t make tweaks.

While legislators did heed a few of Murphy’s requests, not all his suggestions were taken.

The governor wanted to see the tax on medical marijuana — the state sales tax of 6.625 percent — phased out sooner than the five-year window proposed in the previous medical marijuana bill. Lawmakers obliged and have called for losing the tax after three years.

Murphy had asked that lawmakers relax the limit on the number of medical marijuana growers, since the previous bill called for 23 cultivators. The administration was looking for something like 36 total cultivation licenses, including the 12 that are already spoken for. The new plan lands in the middle at 28 total cultivation licenses.

But legislators weren’t as amenable on a few other points the governor raised:

Murphy had asked that lawmakers allow the state Department of Health to continue overseeing the medical marijuana program until January 2021, but the new bill still gives oversight responsibilities to a newly created Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

The governor also recommended that provisions allowing dispensaries to open cannabis consumption lounges be removed from the bill. The provisions remain but restrict consumption to outdoor venues, in keeping with the state law that bans smoking in public buildings.

Murphy suggested that only dispensary employees be allowed to deliver cannabis to patients, but the bill allows third-party companies to make deliveries, as long as they’re approved by the state.

On Tuesday morning, a source close to the negotiations between the administration and the Legislature on the medical expansion bill said that the two sides were getting closer.

“They think an agreement is in reach,” said the source, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the progress of negotiations. “But there’s some language that needs to be tweaked before it’s acceptable for the governor’s office.”

Earlier in the month, the governor announced his plan for expansion, which angered lawmakers since they were already working on a bill to do the same thing. With this new compromise, he is expected to revise his “request for applications” or RFAs, from 108 new medical cannabis businesses to 32, according to a source with direct knowledge of the confidential negotiations.

Other highlights of the bill both sides support include:

Reducing the frequency of doctors visits from four times a year to once a year to verify whether a patient remains eligible for the program. Patients have long complained about the costs and bureaucratic hassles involved with the program, so this should help.

Expanding the amount of cannabis patients are allowed to buy each month from the current 2 ounces to 3 ounces for 18 months, and an amount to be determined by the cannabis commission after that. Terminal patients would have no set limit.

Allowing institutions like nursing homes and hospice centers to be listed as a patient’s institutional caregiver, acting as a conduit between the dispensary and the patient.

Granting out-of-state medical cannabis patients permission to buy medicine while visiting New Jersey, for no longer than six months;

Permitting municipalities that host dispensaries to impose a tax of no more than 2 percent on the business.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion.

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