State Rep. Peter Merideth is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll to talk about his effort to legalize recreational marijuana.

The St. Louis Democrat also discussed how he thinks his party will fare next year in the Missouri House, where Republicans hold a commanding majority for yet another year.

Here’s what Merideth had to say during the show:

• His bill would levy a tax similar to the one on cigarettes on recreational marijuana. It would also have the state’s Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms regulate it, as opposed to the Department of Health and Senior Services, which handles medical marijuana.
• Merideth is on a House committee that’s looked into the execution of the medical marijuana program. And he’s been outspoken against the decision to limit the amount of licenses that are given out to do things like grow, test and distribute marijuana.
• Merideth also talked about his verbal confrontation with Rudy Guiliani during a House committee hearing calling on Congress to overturn the results of a handful of states that were critical to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. That resolution passed out of committee but will likely not reach the House floor.
• He talked about why he feels that the 2021 budget process is going to be challenging because of a potential drop in revenue due to COVID-19.

Merideth is an attorney who was first elected in 2016 to represent a district taking in portions of south and central St. Louis. He was reelected in 2018 and 2020 with little difficulty.

With the departure of state Rep. Kip Kendrick from the House, Merideth will serve as the ranking member of the Budget Committee. While Republicans dominate the Legislature, Democrats can have an impact on financial matters through their work in the Budget Committee.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Peter Merideth on Twitter: @PeterForMO

Music: “Mausoleum” by Son of the Pale Youth