When the state’s head of marijuana regulations testified before a Senate committee recently, he was asked whom he consulted with before his agency proposed labor peace agreements be linked to obtaining a state marijuana business license.

Andrew Brisbo, director of the Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), told Sen. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) that organized labor and the Governor’s administration were supportive of the proposal, but that didn’t mean Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed off on it.

Asked if she would back off the draft proposal Whitmer said, “I can’t tell you at this point.”

Nesbitt, former Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and other groups were not pleased with the linkage of the labor peace agreement as a prerequisite to securing a license.

Whitmer acknowledged the opposition, but said during a Michigan Public TV special, “I’m listening to the experts. I’ve not weighed in personally yet on that one.”

The Governor added, “I’ve got to be convinced on what the right thing to do is and I’m going to do that.”

This story was published in the Small Business Association of Michigan.