03/22/2017 06:00 PM House RESOURCES

           HB 172-INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRODUCTION LICENSES                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
6:14:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR announced that the  next order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE  BILL NO.  172,  "An  Act relating  to  the regulation  and                                                               
production of industrial hemp; relating  to industrial hemp pilot                                                               
programs; providing that  industrial hemp is not  included in the                                                               
definition of 'marijuana'; and  clarifying that adding industrial                                                               
hemp to food does not create an adulterated food product."                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
6:14:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PATRICK  FITZGERALD,  Staff,   Representative  Harriet  Drummond,                                                               
Alaska State  Legislature, on behalf of  Representative Drummond,                                                               
prime sponsor,  addressed the fiscal  notes for HB 172  on behalf                                                               
of   Representative  Drummond,   prime  sponsor.     He   said  a                                                               
typographical  mistake was  made in  the analyses  of one  of the                                                               
fiscal  notes  and the  mistake  was  corrected.   The  corrected                                                               
fiscal note remains zero and is in the committee packet.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
6:15:22 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE PARISH asked  where the lines of  revenue would be                                                               
in the industrial hemp pilot program.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FITZGERALD  replied  that basically  the  pilot  program  is                                                               
incorporated in  the state, so  all the  revenues for it  and all                                                               
the reporting of the pilot program  would be with the Division of                                                               
Agriculture.   The recording of  the cultivations, sales,  and so                                                               
forth would also  be done with the Division of  Agriculture.  The                                                               
Division of Agriculture currently keeps  records of all the sales                                                               
of all the crops in Alaska.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PARISH drew  attention  to page  2  of the  bill,                                                               
lines  5-9,  which state,  "The  department  shall establish  fee                                                               
levels   for   application,    registration,   and   renewal   of                                                               
registration so  that the  total amount  of fees  collected under                                                               
this  section  approximately  equals  the  regulatory  costs  for                                                               
regulating the industrial hemp industry."   He asked whether this                                                               
regulatory cost would include the cost of the pilot program.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITZGERALD answered yes.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
6:17:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  DRUMMOND, prime  sponsor of  HB 172,  stated that                                                               
farmers  would  like  [the  legislature's]  permission  to  start                                                               
planting hemp, a plant that has  been around for centuries if not                                                               
millennia.   Farmers would like to  get to work on  improving the                                                               
diversity of [Alaska's] farm products.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
6:17:46 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  JOSEPHSON  requested  clarification on  the  number  of                                                               
fiscal notes accompanying the bill.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITZGERALD  explained that three  fiscal notes  accompany the                                                               
bill:    one  from  the Alcohol  and  Marijuana  Control  Office,                                                               
[Department  of Commerce,  Community  and Economic  Development];                                                               
one  from the  Criminal Division,  [Department of  Law]; and  one                                                               
from  the  [Division  of   Agriculture],  Department  of  Natural                                                               
Resources.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
6:18:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  JOSEPHSON  began  a motion  that  was  interrupted  for                                                               
purposes of clarification.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
6:19:22 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took a brief at-ease.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
6:19:22 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR JOSEPHSON moved  to report HB 172 out  of committee with                                                               
individual recommendations  and three accompanying  fiscal notes.                                                               
There  being no  objection, HB  172 was  reported from  the House                                                               
Resources Standing Committee.