STAND. COM. REP. NO. 661
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 1353
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirtieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2019
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1353 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INDUSTRIAL HEMP,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Department of Agriculture to permanently establish the industrial hemp program to license individuals to cultivate industrial hemp in the State.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; We Are One, Inc.; Mana Artisan Botanics Inc.; Vespucci Collective Inc.; Aina Ho‘okupu o Kilauea; The Libertarian Party of Hawaii; Hawai‘i Center for Food Safety; Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action; Hawaii Farm Bureau; Hawaii Hemp Farmers Association; O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Beyond Pesticides; Our Revolution Hawaii; Aloha Hemp Company; and twelve individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition from Ho‘omanapono Political Action Committee. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Drug Policy Forum of Hawai‘i.
Your Committees
find that Act 228, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, established an industrial hemp
pilot program to allow the cultivation of industrial hemp and distribution of
its seed in Hawaii through limited activities by licensee-agents of the board
of agriculture for purposes of agricultural or academic research. On December 20, 2018, the 2018 Farm Bill was
signed into law, which included removal of
industrial hemp from the schedule I controlled substance list.
Your
Committees therefore find that this legalization of industrial hemp has paved
the way for Hawaii to further develop its industrial hemp program.
Your
Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Inserting contents from the related hemp
bill, SB 1335, to require that the Department of Agriculture prepare and
submit a proposed State plan to the United States Department of Agriculture to
monitor and regulate hemp production in the State;
(2) Allowing
the industrial hemp pilot program to repeal on its intended date of June 30,
2021, instead of repealing the program on July 1, 2019;
(3) Giving
the Department of Agriculture interim rule-making authority that will
allow the Department of Agriculture to make necessary changes as the United
States Department of Agriculture guidelines are yet to be promulgated;
(4) Authorizing
the Department of Agriculture to set acreage limits and limit the number
of licenses issued annually for the industrial hemp program and pilot program;
(5) Creating
certain exemptions to the prohibition on transportation of the resin,
flowering tops, and leaves removed from a hemp plant;
(6) Removing
the lifetime felon ban to allow those who have not had a felony in the previous
ten years to participate in the industrial hemp program;
(7) Establishing
a separate industrial hemp special fund for the permanent industrial hemp
program; and
(8) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1353, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1353, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Judiciary,
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________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair |
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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