Senator Anthony M. Bucco (R-25) released the following statement in response to news that plans have fallen through to advance a clean-up bill on Monday that was pursued by legislative Democrats to fix shortcomings in marijuana legalization legislation that Governor Phil Murphy has refused to sign:

“I’ve expressed concerns for a long time that the process to legalize marijuana moved way too quickly and was backwards from the beginning. There are extremely complex criminal, regulatory, social, and tax implications that should have been figured out before a question was placed on the ballot.

“As a result of this flawed process, we are left with an unnecessary rush to enact reasonable regulations after marijuana has become legal under our constitution. This placed the Legislature in the position of having to plow through a bill without the time needed to consider the many consequences in a thoughtful manner. We never should be in the position of having to consider a clean-up bill to legislation that hasn’t even been signed into law.

“Unfortunately, this is yet another example of how my colleagues on the other side of the aisle continually rush forward with amazingly complex legislation that deserves time for thoughtful consideration. This constant rush to act routinely leads to a legislative process that lacks transparency and flawed legislation that all too often becomes law.”