Bipartisan House lawmakers are pushing back against attempts to ban hemp THC products, arguing that it would “deal a fatal blow” to the industry and, as currently included in a spending bill, violates congressional rules. To that end, the members say there are plans in the works to introduce an alternative measure to regulate the market.
In a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Friday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and 26 other members said the appropriations legislation that’s advancing in the House with the hemp ban provisions intact would upend the industry that’s emerged since the crop was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.
While the Senate ultimately stripped similar language from its version of the agriculture spending measure following a procedural protest from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), there’s still concern among stakeholders that it could wind up in the final package delivered to the president following bicameral negotiations.
If that were to happen, the lawmakers wrote that “it would deal a fatal blow to American farmers supplying the regulated hemp industry and small businesses, and jeopardize tens of billions of dollars in economic activity around the country.”
“Additionally, there are serious procedural concerns with how the language ended up in these bills,” they said. “This language has not been considered in a markup or hearing by any relevant authorizing committee and there was no public forum for members to express concerns with this language and preferred alternative legislation more appropriate for the relevant authorizing committees.”
Specifically, the letter says the inclusion of the hemp provisions in the House bill “clearly violates” a rule prohibiting language that changes existing law through general appropriations legislation.
“Perhaps most concerning is the characterization by proponents of this language that the bill will not negatively impact the industrial hemp industry,” it says, referring to comments from certain legislators such as Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who have championed the controversial proposal.
Hellbound and Down 