Appearing this morning in Maplewood at a press conference on NJ Transit funding, Governor Phil Murphy acknowledged that the legislature and the front office need to keep working to secure support to legalize recreational marijuana.

“I wont get into specific names,” Murphy told reporters. “I haven’t counted noses. We still have a ways to go.”

Sources confirm as much.

We’re working the phones hard. We all have to pull our weight.

“It’s going to need to be the senate president, front and center, the speaker front and center, myself front and center,” said the governor, who gave Senator Nick Scutari – the bill’s author in the senate – credit for his continuing work.

But “We’re not there yet,” said Murphy, who reiterated his support for legalization.

“If we don’t get this done, the bad guys run the business and they make all the money,” he said.

“We have a chance to protect our kid,” Murphy added.

It’s imperfect, but “This is a huge step.”

On a call with urban mayors, Murphy tried to sharpen language on the expungement portion.

“There is something called virtual expungement in this bill,” the governor said. “Can we find ways to automate this? We’re going to do everything we can.”