DOVER — State legislators gathered with community leaders at the 20th annual legislative luncheon Thursday to scrutinize assorted business issues, from marijuana legalization to paid time off for family leave.

Sen. Dave Lawson, R-Marydel; Sen. Trey Paradee, D-Dover; Rep. Charles Postles, R-Milford; Rep. Bryan Shupe, R-Milford; and Rep. Jeff Spiegelman, R-Clayton, tackled topics like tax cuts, federal stimulus monies, pass-through taxation, the “Ready in 6” initiative, family paid leave and the recently failed House Bill 305, which would have legalized the possession of marijuana.

HB 305, by a vote of 23-14 (with four not voting), was defeated in the House chamber last week because it missed the required three-fifths majority. The bill would have opened a market in Delaware, allowing marijuana businesses to operate under a license, as well as regulating and taxing cannabis in a similar manner as alcohol.

Sen. Paradee, one of the bill’s sponsors, spoke Thursday about the proposal and the missed opportunity of what the marijuana industry could bring to the state’s economy.

“There are winners, and there are losers, and that’s no different with this bill,” he said. “The losers are Delaware taxpayers who are missing out on almost $30 million a year on tax revenue, and I think the winners are, quite honestly, the drug cartels who will continue to have yet another product that they can sell and make money off of.”

He added that he will continue to work to get a bill passed, though he feels that the block of HB 305 is a multimillion-dollar gift to drug cartels and illegal growers.

Though Sen. Paradee spoke out in support of marijuana legalization and the amendments proposed by Rep. Mike Smith, R-Pike Creek, not all of the lawmakers on the panel agreed.

Sen. Lawson, a retired Delaware State Police trooper, said he saw far too many intoxicated drivers and careless users of marijuana during his time as an officer to support the law.

“I can’t vote in good conscience for the legalization of marijuana, no matter what amendment is going in,” he said. “I would like to see us be able to assess and determine the level of intoxication for marijuana users, so we could see if someone is legally under the influence. But we don’t have that. There are no tools out there to work with marijuana users. I hear, ‘Oh, it’s better than alcohol.’ Well, is that like how cocaine is better than fentanyl?”

Also in opposition, Rep. Postles raised concern about the effect marijuana has on young adults’ brain development and agreed with Sen. Lawson about the inability to measure someone’s level of cannabis intoxication.

Another topic up for discussion was Senate Substitution 2 to Senate Bill 1, the Healthy Delaware Families Act, which would create a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program.

Under this legislation, employees could access up to 12 weeks’ paid family and medical leave through a state trust fund after a qualifying event, such as a worker’s own serious health condition, to care for a family member with a major illness, to bond and care for a new child, or to address the impact of a family member’s military deployment.

Rep. Postles applauded Sen. Sarah McBride, D-Wilmington, for listening to constituents about how she could improve the bill and said, though he may not agree, the proposal seems as if it will pass because it has majority support.

Sen. Lawson added that he does not support the legislation, citing the government’s interference in private business.

“What happened to the free market? Can’t paid leave be part of the enticement to get good employees? Why does government have to stick its nose in everywhere?” he said. “The free market makes this country roll, and as long as government gets involved, it will get screwed up. Look at the postal office. There’s so many examples.”

Like Sen. Lawson, Sen. Paradee said his knee-jerk reaction to the bill was that it would cost too much money. But after Sen. McBride met with him to outline her initiative, he said he was sold.

“Take some time to read about it and learn about it. The United States is the only modern, Western democracy that does not have something like this. I believe that the impact that this will have on small businesses will be very minimal, and for that reason, I support it,” Sen. Paradee said.

Rep. Shupe, a small-business owner himself, said the bill’s challenges far outweigh its benefits.

“It’s the logistics of having that person have three months off of work, hiring another person to fill in that role, having the person come back, and then, what do we do with the person that was just hired?” he said.

With minimum-wage and insurance increases, he noted that it’s illogical to think that businesses will now have to accommodate the Healthy Delaware Families Act.
Rep. Spiegelman also voiced concern, specifically about issues it could pose should industries face a labor crisis.

“It could be the best bill ever made, but if the timing is bad from an events standpoint, it doesn’t work. I’m far more inclined to say no just based on the current economy as it stands,” he said.