“God knows we need every penny we can find,” Murphy said. “That’s $300 million to $500 million we don’t have at the moment that we could use.”

New Jersey used to count on Atlantic City for instant cash during the decades it was the nation’s second-biggest gambling market behind Las Vegas. Casino revenue peaked in 2006, though, and slid for the next 10 years as gambling came to New York and Pennsylvania, forcing New Jersey to shed five of 12 casinos and 11,000 jobs. Last year, the state tax take was $237 million, just 57 percent of the best year’s payout.

Colorado Trip

New Jersey lawmakers saw a way to undo that damage and then some on a tour of Colorado growers and retailers last year, when that state collected $157 million in taxes on pot sales.

“Colorado went from 40th in job growth to No. 4,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat from West Deptford who was on the trip. “It’s becoming one of the youngest states in the nation -- they have a growth explosion because people are moving there.”

In Pennsylvania, marijuana-related prosperity like that is years off, according to Representative Edward Gainey, a Pittsburgh Democrat. He sponsored the medical-use bill signed by Governor Tom Wolf in April 2016, more than three years after New Jersey dispensaries started supplying the drug to patients.

“It’s too soon for businesses and lobbyists to come in” to advocate for another major marijuana law change, Gainey said in an interview. “Decriminalization would be one step before legalization.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat in a state with a divided legislature, in January proposed decriminalizing marijuana possession, though he remains opposed to legalizing recreational use. Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan who has unsuccessfully pitched a recreational bill three times, said any progress New Jersey makes is likely to push New York.

“It’s not a structural ‘How-the-hell-would-you-do-it?’ legislation,” Krueger said in an interview. “The public is ahead of the political comfort level here.”

In New Jersey, lawmakers and lobbyists said the goal is to have legislation signed within the first 100 days of what they presume will be a Democratic administration. Sales would start about a year later, with particular focus on what other states are doing.