Marijuana legalization proposal could add to crowded ballot in November 2018

LANSING — When the coalition to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use turned in petition signatures to the Secretary of State on Monday, the group added to what could be a crowded ballot next November.

Other ballot proposals, including the way district lines are drawn for local, state and federal elected offices, are nearing their goal of obtaining 400,000 signatures to get on the 2018 ballot. And more groups keep popping up in the hopes of getting their issues before voters next year.

Protecting Michigan Taxpayers, which wants to repeal the law that requires public construction projects to pay union-scale wages, has already turned in more than 380,000 signatures. The group hopes the Legislature will take up the issue once the signatures have been verified by the Secretary of State.

If both the House and Senate approve the issue, it automatically goes into law without the need for a signature from Gov. Rick Snyder, who opposes the repeal. Repealing the prevailing wage has been a top priority of leadership in the Republican-controlled Legislature, but it has been thwarted in its efforts because of Snyder's threat to veto such legislation.

The marijuana legalization effort has been tried in previous years, but hasn't gotten the necessary 252,523 signatures during the required 180-day window. This year, backers paid a company to collect the signatures and came up with more than 360,000 to provide a cushion if some of the signatures are thrown out. But raising the money to pay for the signatures was a bit harder than anticipated, said Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol. The final $30,000 needed to pay the petition signature vendor was raised and paid last week.

More: Anti-gerrymandering group defies odds with 2018 ballot drive

More: Petitions turned in to repeal Michigan prevailing wage law

“That had to do with uncertainty on what the state was going to do to regulate the industry and the new Trump administration in Washington," he said. "But that one chapter is soon to be behind us and it will be a whole new ball game as we move forward."

The coalition hopes to raise a total of $8 million for the upcoming campaign, which includes the $950,000 that the group paid for the petition signatures.

"It’s very clear that people are ready for this very sensible proposal," said Jeffrey Hank, executive director of MI Legalize, one of the groups included in the coalition. "But our work isn’t done. You know how hard it is to run a campaign and we have to raise millions of dollars."

The ballot proposal would:

Levy a 10% excise tax at the retail level as well as the 6% sales tax. The estimated revenues from the taxes are at least $100 million, Hovey said.

Split those revenues with 35% going to K-12 education, 35% to roads, 15% to the communities that allow marijuana businesses in their communities and 15% to counties where marijuana business are located.

Allow communities to decide whether they’ll allow marijuana businesses.

Restrict possession of marijuana that a person can carry for recreational purposes to 2.5 ounces, but individuals could keep up to 10 ounces in their homes.

Follow the same type of licensing model that is being used for medical marijuana, which will provide for five categories of licenses — growers, processors, testers, secure transporters and dispensaries.

The marijuana proposal also could go before the Legislature, which can approve it, reject it, introduce its own proposal or do nothing. If it acts, which is unlikely in the GOP-controlled Legislature, it would automatically go into effect. If it rejects it or does nothing, the issue goes on the November 2018 general election ballot.

But the coalition doesn't expect the Legislature to act on the proposal.

"People are way ahead of the politicians on the legalization issue and we don't have any confidence that the politicians are going to take action," said former state Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, the political director of the coalition. "It's never a waste of time to extend an olive branch to gain compromise, but I'm not very hopeful that the Legislature will pass this initiative as we've proposed."

And there will be organized opposition to the legalization. The Committee to Keep Pot Out of Neighborhoods and Schools, which is funded by the Michigan Responsibility Council and which represents big business interests that want to get into the medical marijuana market, said, "We are on the verge of creating a regulated system for the production of medical marijuana which will provide regulation, taxation and rigorous testing so that patients and doctors will know the products are safe. The ballot proposal puts the public at risk and will be vigorously opposed."

The marijuana legalization proposal won't be the only issue on the ballot next year. The Voters not Politicians group is close to securing the 400,000 signatures needed to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot that will change the way district lines are drawn for state and federal elected offices.

The state Legislature now redraws the lines every 10 years based on population numbers gathered every decade by the U.S. Census. The political party in power draws the lines, often to protect its members and majorities in the halls of the Legislature and Congress.

Under the proposal, an independent, bipartisan commission — four Republicans, four Democrats and five people with no party affiliation — would be selected to redraw the lines. Organizers and volunteers for the petition drive have been out in force at community events since earlier this summer in an effort to collect the 315,654 necessary signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

But getting the signatures and getting on the ballot are two different things. A legal challenge is expected from Republican-affiliated groups that oppose the proposal.

Other groups also have said they hope to get enough signatures to get their issues on the ballot, including:

Keep Our Lakes Great : Would end the state's easement for the Enbridge pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac and prohibit the state from granting any additional easements for pipelines under the Great Lakes.

: Would end the state's easement for the Enbridge pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac and prohibit the state from granting any additional easements for pipelines under the Great Lakes. Clean Michigan : A constitutional amendment to make Michigan's Legislature part-time.

: A constitutional amendment to make Michigan's Legislature part-time. Raise Michigan and MI Time to Care : Two ballot proposals that would require that Michigan employers give employees paid sick time.

: Two ballot proposals that would require that Michigan employers give employees paid sick time. Abrogate Prohibition : A constitutional amendment to legalize the use of marijuana.

: A constitutional amendment to legalize the use of marijuana. MI One Fair Wage: Gradually raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2022.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal