U.S. Congressmember Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) become the newest cosponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act yesterday, bringing the total number of sponsors for the bill to 56.
The MORE Act continues to build momentum in Congress, gaining over a dozen new sponsors since its introduction last month. However, the measure currently has no Republican sponsors.
At its core, the measure would take marijuana out of the Controlled Substances Act altogether, effectively ending federal prohibition. States would retain full authority to chart their own path on legalization and regulation, but the federal government would no longer classify marijuana as a controlled drug. A key component of the bill would clear past federal convictions and provide pathways for resentencing, directly addressing the impact of decades of prohibition.
The MORE Act pairs descheduling with a reinvestment framework. It establishes a federal excise tax on marijuana sales, using the revenue to fund job training, youth programs, and re-entry services in communities that have borne the brunt of enforcement. The legislation also ensures marijuana-related convictions cannot be used to deny access to housing, loans, or other federal programs, and it extends Small Business Administration benefits to marijuana companies for the first time.
The measure has cleared the House twice in prior sessions but has repeatedly stalled in the Senate, where Republican buy-in has been minimal. Even so, the bill remains the most comprehensive reform effort in Congress, with advocates noting its scope reaches far beyond incremental changes like banking access or modest rescheduling.
Its rising sponsor count comes as President Trump weighs rescheduling marijuana through executive action, shifting it from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
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