As more groups offer up their support for the legalization of cannabis, lawmakers are pushing forward bills towards just that. While the new bills may differ in detail, the overall attempt to cause positive change to cannabis legislation remains. Recently, a pair of bipartisan representatives announced a new bill to try and bring state level expungement efforts forward.
Details
Representatives Dave Joyce, OH-R, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY-D, are sponsoring this new bill, called the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act. The HOPE Act would encourage states to provide relief to people with non-violent marijuana convictions through federal grants. The grants would specifically help to cover administrative costs of identifying and clearing eligible cases, which some states say they are struggling with. In order to fund the grants, the HOPE Act would appropriate $2 million in funding to support the program each fiscal year from 2023 to 2032.
States could also use these federal grants to purchase technology, needed to facilitate expungements at scale, automate the relief process, and fund legal clinics. Clinics would help clear records of non-violent marijuana convictions in each state. Finally, the states could use the grants to support “innovative partnerships” in order to provide mass relief for those with convictions past and present.
Once these grants are received, the states must post the grant information on a public website. Each public, state-run website, would include information about the expungement process for qualifying people.
The sponsors continue to push for the HOPE Act to pass. It would give the states the resources they need to expunge the non-violent cannabis charges. These charges hold back those convicted from employment, housing, and other equal opportunities the rest of citizens have.
Future
Even if the HOPE Act makes it through Congress one onto President Biden’s desk, it’s unclear how he would react to the bill. Previously, President Biden has expressed his support for decriminalization and scheduling in his campaign. But since his inauguration, President Biden hasn’t shown any movement towards what he promised. This has led to great concern from activists, who continue to push for what was promised.
The HOPE Act is one way President Biden could move his promises forward, Representatives Joyce and Ocasio-Cortez say. As more information becomes available, we will update you with the latest.
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