Updates in Four States and New Bills in PA & TN

Check out the latest legislative updates across the states and take action today!

It’s been a momentous week.

Virginia

We had a productive meeting with Governor Glenn Youngkin’s office about Virginia SB 591—the restrictive THC limits bill we urged emergency action against. The Roundtable is not alone; the Governor has heard from a lot of industry stakeholders who oppose the bill. We’re encouraged because the Governor’s team seems receptive to our preferred approach of using a regulatory process to determine optimal THC limits based on science and industry input. The Governor has unique powers to make changes to the bill for a vote by the legislature. We expect him to act in the next few weeks.

Pennsylvania

Following last week’s report that licensed alcohol retailers in Pennsylvania are being denied licenses to sell CBD, we sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and Department of Agriculture to urge them to reverse their new policy. We wanted the regulators to know that their policy will have disastrous consequences for Pennsylvania consumers, small businesses, and farmers (the vast majority of whom grow hemp for CBD and hemp extracts). We’ve also asked for a meeting with agency officials. Stay tuned to this space.

Additionally, there’s a new bill to share. SB 1167 allows financial institutions and insurance companies to conduct business with “legitimate cannabis businesses,” including hemp-derived CBD businesses. The bill will help solve the banking and insurance difficulties that many hemp businesses have faced, and is consistent with our efforts to promote SAFE Banking on the federal level. Pennsylvania Hemp Supporters are encouraged to use our State Action Center to urge lawmakers to support SB 1167.

Maryland

We’ve been following HB 1078 in Maryland. The bill initially included confusing language about products made from using hemp not being hemp products. Thanks to critical efforts by industry advocates, the language was dropped from the version of the bill that unanimously passed the state House. The new version sets a 21-and-older age restriction for the sale, distribution, or possession of delta-8 or delta-10.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma SB 1338 also relates to delta-8. It adds the cannabinoid to the definition of hemp. The bill recently passed the state Senate.

Tennessee

Finally, in Tennessee, HB 0715 and SB 0694 are companion bills that allow the transportation of hemp concentrate up to 5% THC for the purpose of reconstitution into hemp products with a legal amount of THC. Tennessee Hemp Supporters are encouraged to use our State Action Center to urge lawmakers to support the bills.