Top Political Stories of 2019: #5 – Hemp. 

Top Political Stories of 2019: #5 – Hemp. 

The #5 top political story of 2019 is closely related to the #6 top political story. Or it’s not, and it’s a completely different plant, depending on who you talk to.  But as a political story, hemp might have been as controversial if not more controversial than marijuana in 2019.

The legalization and cultivation of Hemp has long been considered a back door to the legalization to marijuana. Most recently various legislative measures have been brought up in 2015 and 2016, but the issue reached critical mass in 2018, with the 2018 Farm Bill directing the USDA to establish a national regulatory framework for hemp production in the United States.

In light of the federal government’s move, in 2019 South Dakota legislators brought a measure – House Bill 1191 – to legalize the growth, production, and processing of industrial hemp and derivative products in the state.   While the bill was brought by a Democrat, it had a significant number of Republican Sponsors, including the prime sponsor in the state senate, Senator Youngberg, and sponsorship by the House Majority Leader, Lee Qualm.  Ultimately, it was sponsored by 78 of the 105 legislators.

The measure then hit a wall. Legislators found that Governor Kristi Noem didn’t just object to the measure. She had strong objections to the legalization of hemp. The Governor cited questions over hemp’s ambiguity in identifying it versus marijuana as affecting public safety, law enforcement, and costs to the taxpayers.

And legislators passed it anyway, with the hemp measure sailing through the House of Representatives on a 65-2 vote, and passing the Senate on a 21-14 vote (with the House concurring on Senate Amendments 58-8).

The line in the sand had been drawn, and it found Governor Noem wielding one of the two full vetoes she issued in the 2019 session (2 more were simple style and form changes), citing that “Our state is not yet ready.” Turned back to legislators, while the House overrode her veto on a 55 to 11 vote,  The Senate could only muster a 20-13 vote, and failed to override the Governor’s nixing of Hemp.

But the issue didn’t end there.

Governor Noem continued to be vocal on the topic all year, speaking out on it at various times, including urging lawmakers to consider extensive questions surrounding industrial hemp, and state officials expressing their concern over it’s legalization.  The Governor also devoted a weekly column to it, declaring “Industrial Hemp is Not the Answer,” letting lawmakers know they could expect another veto, and even authoring an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

And then it got really interesting, as a Colorado hemp delivery driver was arrested in South Dakota, and indicted on drug charges, specifically “intending to distribute marijuana and possessing more than 10 pounds.”  He was also arrested for “charges of ingesting marijuana and cocaine.”   This arrest added more fuel to the fire.

About this time, the USDA finally issued interim rules for the 2018 legislation, which gave some guidance. However, the Governor noted that “USDA does not preempt a state’s ability to adopt stronger requirements or prohibit production,” but “the guidelines do require the State to permit interstate transportation of hemp.”

I might also mention that there’s no indication this issue is going away.  Sponsors have expressed an interest in bringing it back for another go.

One of the other interesting developments throughout the year was  a record number of legislative resignations. And guess who gets to pick the replacements, according to the Constitution?  Governor Kristi Noem.

The power of appointment gives the Governor a unique opportunity to reshape government and state policy as she deems prudent – which may mean that the 2020 legislative session might be less friendly to hemp when it convenes in a couple of weeks.

Still lots more to come on hemp. And 4 more top political stories of 2019!