A bill that would legalize marijuana at the federal level will be discussed at a House Judiciary Committee meeting Wednesday, Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) announced Monday.

Passage of the bill could be good news for senior living communities, especially those that accept federal funding in states where cannabis / marijuana use is legal, because state and federal law on the issue would be more closely aligned. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses common in older adults often make the lists of diagnoses for which the use of prescribed medical marijuana already is approved at the state level.

The markup, which will begin at 10 a.m. ET tomorrow, will be livestreamed on YouTube. Today, Nadler and other House members will discuss the legislation at a press conference at 11 a.m. ET; it will be livestreamed on Facebook.

H.R. 3884 / S. 2227, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act) of 2019, was introduced in July in the House by Nadler and in the Senate by Kamala Harris (D-CA), who is a candidate for the Democrat Party nomination for president in the 2020 election. The Senate has not scheduled a meeting on S. 2227.

“Glad to see my bill with Rep. Nadler take the next step in the House this week,” Harris tweeted.

“As more states legalize marijuana, it is time for Congress to decriminalize it,” Nadler tweeted Monday.

The bill, if passed and signed into law as written, would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act. The decriminalization would apply retroactively to prior and pending convictions; states would be able to set their own policies.

The bill, among other actions, also would expunge criminal convictions; prohibit the denial of public housing and other public benefits based on the use or possession of marijuana, or prior conviction; provide job training and other services to those affected by current drug laws related to marijuana; and promote equitable participation in the legal marijuana industry.

Presidential candidates Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are among the Senate bill’s five co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats, according to Congress.gov. The House version had 55 co-sponsors, including one Republican, as of Monday, according to the website.