Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
02/15/2017 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB6 | |
| Overview: State Legal Efforts Related to the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 6-INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRODUCTION
3:31:21 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced consideration of SB 6, sponsor by
Senator Hughes. [CSSB 6, labeled 30-LS0173\U, was before the
committee.] Public testimony was open.
JONATHAN SCHUMACHER, representing himself, Anchorage, Alaska,
said the industrial hemp industry would bring in much needed
revenue for the state.
EMBER HAYNES, Denali Hemp Company, Talkeetna, Alaska, supported
SB 6. She and her husband own a business in Talkeetna that grows
and harvests Alaska plants to create herbal sundries. She looks
forward to the day she can incorporate Alaska-grown hemp seed
oil into her Alaskan Devil's Club Balm. Her family and many
others across Alaska are currently adding protein to their diets
with hemp seed, powder, and meal. She personally supplements
their animals' feed with high-protein, non-viable hemp seeds,
and right now she has a new litter of pigs nestled in some Dove
Tree Hemp Herd Bedding, a product she uses on a daily basis that
she wished could be all-Alaskan grown.
She asked if there might be further clarification on the
language in Section 1 (l) and (n) where it asks a registrant to
keep three years of records, and to add that the department
shall provide at least three days' notice before inspecting the
records. She said these could be working days and that is why
further time should be allowed. Other than that, she hopes to
see this industry flourish in Alaska and be exported worldwide.
3:36:33 PM
DON HART, Professional Paralegal Services, Wasilla, Alaska,
supported SB 6 and said it's extremely important for cultivation
of hemp to be legalized in Alaska, because Canada has made such
a success after legalizing it there; they ship all of their hemp
products into the United States.
He said that hemp grows very well in the northern climate and
Alaska has a lot of land to grow it on. Instead of saying it can
be raised as an affirmative defense or using the definition only
in the criminal statutes, to really benefit the farmers it would
be better to remove it entirely from AS 17.38. The reason is
that the definition of marijuana includes all parts of the plant
of genus cannabis. If it's not removed it will be illegal
anyway.
Secondly, AS 17.38.210 (a) allows hemp growing in Alaska to be
excluded by initiative. Two Alaska Supreme Court cases, Carmen
v. McKechnie and Griswold v. the City of Homer, state that
zoning by initiative or the municipality is invalid and
unconstitutional, because it creates a taking action.
3:40:57 PM
RHONDA MARCY, Alaska Hemp Industries, Wasilla, Alaska, supported
SB 6. She said she has an undergraduate degree, a Master's
degree, and along the way she studied industrial hemp at Oregon
State University. She supports the industry in Alaska and to
that end her business is trying to help the people who want to
have an industry in Alaska to process and have end products for
the hemp they are growing.
She visited a University of Kentucky hemp field two years ago
and found that the nutritional contents of the green part of
plant is higher than in alfalfa and when the meat of the seed is
added it is 100 percent complete nutrition with Omegas 3, 6 and
9. One of the reasons hemp will be such an asset to Alaska is
that it can be food for fish/salmon fry. Currently, last years
fry are ground up and fed back to the current years fry, a
decreasing nutritional cycle. Hemp is a perfect fish/salmon food
that Alaskans could grow, and that would also contribute to
having a stronger salmon industry in Alaska.
She suggested making a tribute to Senator Johnny Ellis for
starting this issue last year.
3:43:25 PM
CARRIE HARRIS, representing herself, Anchor Point, Alaska,
supported SB 6. She believes industrial hemp should be allowed
as well as cannabis. "The benefits are amazing." She feels that
in voting to legalize cannabis people set aside the issues the
federal government has with it.
3:44:10 PM
KAREN BERGER, representing herself, Homer, Alaska, supported SB
6. She said she was also testifying in the spirit of Julie
Suzerini, another hemp advocate. Thirty other states favor this
type of legislation and she would like to see Alaska as number
31. Agriculture is a big part of Homer's economy and the
economic base of our state needs all the help it can get.
3:45:08 PM
FRANCINE BENNIS, representing herself, Trapper Creek, Alaska,
supported SB 6. She also wanted to thank Senator Ellis for his
work on this issue. She said hemp is an amazing substance that
can be used for many things. The U.S. Declaration of
Independence was written on hemp paper, and both Thomas
Jefferson and George Washington had hemp plantations. Alaska can
really use another viable industry, and it will be well received
here. It is easy to grow here; Canada is begging the United
States to develop an infrastructure for growing hemp products,
because they can barely keep up with U.S. demand. Canada started
growing legally in 1998 and by 2010 they had over 25,000 acres
in cultivation. China is also producing hemp, but is buying it
from Canada, as well. Right now this country is importing over
$1 billion worth of hemp products from Canada including food and
clothing.
3:48:07 PM
AARON RALPH, representing himself, Anchorage, Alaska, supported
SB 6. Hemp has over 50,000 uses. It is great as a dietary
supplement and many food products can be made out of it. It
produces a higher amount of cannabidiol, which is a great tool
in treating most neurological disorders.
3:48:51 PM
LARRY DEVILBISS, representing himself, Palmer, Alaska, said he
doesn't use marijuana, but supported SB 6. He is a farmer in
Palmer and has been in many places around the world where hemp
is grown. It is unfortunate that it happens to be in the
cannabis family. Hemp has a lot of practical benefits that could
become an economic driver in Alaska. He mentioned that a Palmer
initiative banned marijuana products but exempted hemp, because
of its beneficial uses and none of the negatives that are
associated with other cannabis products.
3:50:28 PM
BRUCE SCHULTE, representing himself, Anchorage, Alaska,
supported SB 6, but shared some of the concerns over the scope
of regulation and government involvement as well as the fees. He
hoped the fees could be kept to an absolute minimum. He knew of
a lot of large tracts of land that could benefit from the hemp
industry, but there are also smaller land owners who could
benefit, and he would hate to see them left out because of high
fees. He observed recent news about CBD-containing products
around the state and he hoped that a clear distinction could be
made between hemp-based CBD products and its distance cousin,
marijuana products, so it wouldn't be open to challenge later
on.
3:52:56 PM
COURTNEY MORAN, Earth Law, LLC, Portland, Oregon, supported SB
6. She is an industrial hemp attorney with her firm, Earth Law,
LLC, and it has been her honor and pleasure to work with Senator
Hughes and Buddy Whitt and with all the comments from the
Division of Agriculture and this committee in drafting
legislation that does conform with federal law. SB 6 sets up a
robust regulatory framework that will provide for a successful
and sustainable industrial hemp program for farmers and
manufacturers throughout Alaska. She thanked the committee for
their thoughtful questions and discussion on SB 6 clarifying
that industrial hemp is an agricultural product subject to
regulation by the Division of Agriculture.
MS. MORAN noted that industrial hemp products, themselves, are
legal and always have been, but its cultivation has been a
federal issue for the past 80 years. The legality of industrial
hemp products was clarified by the Ninth Circuit Court in the
2004 Hemp Industries Association (HIA) v. Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA) case. Mr. Carter with the Division of Agriculture
mentioned during this committee's March 13th hearing that
Section 763 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016
provides that:
No funds may be used by any federal agency to prohibit
the transportation, processing, sale, or use of
industrial hemp that is grown or cultivated in
accordance with Section 7606 of the Agricultural Act,
in or outside the state in which industrial hemp is
grown or cultivated.
This language provides clarity for industrial hemp product sales
across state lines. Also, as discussed in the past two hearings,
Section 7606 of the U.S. Agriculture Act of 2014 (the Federal
Farm Bill) provides a directive from Congress by not only
defining industrial hemp notwithstanding the Controlled
Substances Act and giving authority for the State Department of
Agriculture and institutions of higher education in states that
have already legalized industrial hemp to research the growth,
cultivation, and marketing of it. This measure provides clear
federal authority for the implementation of a state program.
She recalled comments about why Alaska is following federal
guidance for industrial hemp if the state is not following
federal guidance for marijuana, and the rationale was that clear
legal authority is lacking federally for marijuana except for
the Department of Justice's Cole Memo Guidance of 2013. In
contrast, there is clear federal statutory authority, and SB 6
will create the state legal authority for Alaska. That
institutions of higher education and universities can engage in
industrial hemp research is also provided in Section 7606.
Approximately 20 universities throughout the U.S. are currently
conducting industrial hemp research and SB 6 will provide that
authority for Alaska institutions of higher education.
Another important provision of SB 6 provides that food is not
adulterated solely because it contains industrial hemp. Other
states, such as Colorado, have had this issue, because it is not
clarified, and SB 6 will take care of this right away for
farmers and manufacturers at the beginning of the program's
implementation. She closed thanking them for their support and
encouragement for agricultural industrial hemp development in
Alaska.
3:56:09 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL, finding no one else to testify on SB 6, closed
public testimony. She said the committee had updated fiscal
notes and asked Senator Von Imhof, the member who is on the
Senate Finance Committee, if she had any comments on them.
SENATOR VON IMHOF reviewed the four fiscal notes as follows:
1. The DNR provides a zero value. The cost of
administering the registration program will be
determined after regulations are drafted. Those costs
will be recovered by approximately 25 farms and the
department anticipates to register that in the first
year. Additionally, the department anticipates a 10
percent growth of interest from the agricultural
community each year after.
2. The Department of Law: does not anticipate a fiscal
impact at this time. Zero value.
3. The Department of Public Safety: passage of this
legislation is not expected to result in a significant
increase in the crime labs controlled substance
analysis workload. Therefore, no fiscal impact to the
crime lab is anticipated. Zero fiscal note.
4. The Department of Public Safety: passage of this
legislation is not expected to have an impact on the
enforcement efforts of the Alaska State Troopers.
Therefore, a zero fiscal note is being submitted.
CHAIR GIESSEL recognized Division of Agriculture personnel who
were ready to answer questions. She invited Senator Hughes to
make closing remarks.
SENATOR HUGHES thanked the committee for hearing the bill and
everyone who testified. She thanked the Division of Agriculture
for their work with them. She also recognized Bruce Bush from
MatSu.
3:58:20 PM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to report CSSB 6(RES), labeled 30-
LS0173\U, from committee with individual recommendations and
attached fiscal note(s). There were no objections and it was so
ordered.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Agenda-2-15-17 330pm.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
|
| Federal Issues as of January 23 2017.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
ANILCA |
| FederalLawLitigationReport2017 012317.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
ANILCA |
| SB 6-Support-Jack Bennett.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
SB 6 |
| SB 6-Updated Fiscal Note-DOL-CGL-2-15-17.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
SB 6 |
| SB 6-Fiscal Note-DNR-AG-NLPMC-2-15-17.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
SB 6 |
| SB 6-Support-Jeremiah Emmerson.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
SB 6 |
| SB 6-Support-Connor Scher.pdf |
SRES 2/15/2017 3:30:00 PM |
SB 6 |