Jacob Ogles
A regulatory framework around hemp consumables formed in significantly different ways in the House and Senate. But will the chambers bring legislation in line before the Legislative Session ends?
Sen. Colleen Burton says it can be done, but acknowledged significant differences remain between the chambers.
“Certainly there’s some stylistic differences in the writing of the bill,” the Lakeland Republican said. “One of the big differences would be in the definition of hemp.”
A Senate bill (SB 438) passed more than a month ago. That legislation dealt with hemp and hemp extracts and barred synthetic hemp products. But House legislation (HB 7027) produced in committee and developed through a work group doesn’t address synthetics at all.
The House bill, along with a related bill on taxation of hemp goods (HB 7029), was supposed to be heard on the floor Friday but was then postponed to this week. The legislation was supposed to be taken up on Tuesday, but Rep. Michelle Salzman, a Pensacola Republican, told Florida Politics that will not happen as planned. She hopes to know the timing of a floor vote some time Tuesday.
“The budget is the priority,” she said.
Burton said synthetics are an important part of the conversation. It’s surprising to her the House bill addresses smoked products without tackling synthetics.
“If you smoke a hemp product, unless it has synthetic hemp mixed in with it, it’s not intoxicating,” Burton said. “Since our bill does not allow for synthetic there’s a difference there.”
She declined to say what the most important sticking points in negotiation will be before speaking to Salzman about whatever passes in the House. She noted the Senate and House both have similar language on requirements surrounding packaging, testing and inspections.
In many cases, she preferred the House’s final product. She pointed to testing of THC levels as an example of what she considered “a really good idea” generated in the lower chamber.
“What we did in the Senate Bill was we picked up the statute related to medical marijuana testing labs and said they could also test hemp,” Burton said. “Then the House took it a step further and said, ‘Well, okay, but let’s allow a process where DACS (the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services) can set up a set of rules, a set of procedures, so that we can have hemp testing labs.”
She also appreciates the House treating hemp-infused beverages similar to alcohol, in the sense that retailers and restaurants licensed to sell one can sell the other, and those without such licensing face restrictions.
Burton noted in other areas, such as the sale of products at certain gatherings, there may need to be a dialogue between the chambers. The House focused on the sale of the goods at festivals and fairs, while Burton focused on events like trade shows, that happen at facilities with different relationships with licensed vendors. Burton knows much of the festival language is a priority for Salzman, and wants to understand the subtle discrepancies that resulted in House language.
“We touched on a lot of the same things, but just dealt with them a little bit differently, and a lot of it is, quite frankly, just the way the bills are formatted and written,” Burton said. “I had to read their bill, quite frankly, a couple of times to make sure I caught all the points that were in that bill.”
Some of the House language originated from separate legislation filed in the Senate by Sen. Tracie Davis, a Jacksonville Democrat who partnered with Burton in crafting the final package in the Senate.
Burton noted the House and Senate appear to agree broadly on many items. Both bills have caps on THC levels, even if they calculate them differently. But those issues must be resolved. Burton worries, for example, that the House bill calculates content by grams, a metric the Senator sees as appropriate for medical marijuana but not one seen on drinks, edible products or inhalants addressed in the legislation.
“I would want to see what they pass, and then have a minute to sit down with Rep. Salzman to better understand where they want to be and where they’re going, because the grams, I think, are confusing, and they will confuse the marketplace as well.”
A number of industry professionals remain hopeful for some type of regulatory framework to emerge from the Legislature. Scott Dick, a lobbyist for ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, said he just hopes something passes, and believes there is still time for that to happen.
“I hope they come together, because right now, there are really no regulations in place,” he said. “It’s kind of a wild, wild west atmosphere out here.”
Hemp retailers, meanwhile, say they want regulation to add credibility to the industry, but need it to be fair.
Burton said she is taking input to heart. The Senate legislation as passed bars any type of advertising outside of retailer buildings, but she is willing to pull back on that hard line. She is most concerned about tent signs off-premises. “As far as a sign on the building itself, I would have no objection to that,” she said.
Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis ultimately vetoed regulations passed by the Legislature. Burton said the chances of the same fate befalling a new bill could depend on what gets produced in the next few days. She said concerns on store locations that were raised by the Governor have been addressed in the Senate legislation.
Right now, she wants to see if the House amends its bill at all before it returns to the Senate for final passage.
“I know we have time. That I know,” Burton said. “How we want to spend that time will not be up to me alone.”
