Here’s where we are at the legislature…
1. #mnleg REDUX
We’re entering the phase of the legislative session where the sausage-making mise en place is set and it’s time to start mixing, grinding, and stuffing. Some bills may travel to the floor as standalones, others will be rolled into omnibus bills, and still others may sit on the bench and be introduced later as amendments either in committee or on the floor. After that, what ultimately passes into law in most if not all instances will be negotiated in conference committees. This is all to say that nothing is guaranteed to make it through but, more importantly, nothing is dead until the clock strikes midnight on 5/23 (the last day of the legislative session).
Here’s where we are with the bills that are currently on table:
H.F. 3595 (Edelson), the Board of Pharmacy’s bill on the regulation of products containing cannabinoids, has been heard and approved by the House Health Finance and Policy Committee and the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee and is now re-referred back to the House Health Finance and Policy Committee where it will likely be incorporated into the House Health Finance Omnibus Bill. The bill’s senate companion, S.F. 3761 (Koran), has not been scheduled for a hearing.
H.F. 4387 (Gomez) as amended, a bill to eliminate the state’s statutorily-mandated medical cannabis manufacturing duopoly by requiring that the Department of Health register at least 4 and up to 10 medical cannabis manufacturers subject to equity considerations set forth in the bill, has been laid over for possible inclusion in the House Health Finance Omnibus Bill. The bill’s senate companion, S.F. 4389 (Koran), has not been scheduled for a hearing.
H.F. 3876 (Edelson) as amended, a bill that (a) requires the Department of Health to implement a state-centralized medical cannabis electronic database to monitor and track manufacturers' medical cannabis inventories from the seed or clone source through cultivation, processing, testing, and distribution or disposal and (b) addresses various issues pertaining to transport and transportation staffing for medical cannabis, has been laid over for possible inclusion in the House Health Finance Omnibus Bill. The bill does not have a senate companion.
H.F. 3119 (Edelson), a bill to reduce the fee for patient enrollment in the medical cannabis program from $200 to $40, has been laid over for possible inclusion in the House Health Finance Omnibus Bill. The bill’s senate companion, S.F. 3033 (Koran), has not been scheduled for a hearing.
H.F. 1355 (Gomez), a bill to reduce the penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis mixtures, has been heard and approved by the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee and the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee and is now re-referred back to the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee. It is unclear as of now whether the bill will travel to the House floor as a standalone bill or be incorporated into the House Public Safety Omnibus Bill. The bill’s senate companion, S.F. 2348 (Abeler), has not been scheduled for a hearing.
H.F. 3162 (Freiberg), a bill (a) providing for the operation of Tribal medical cannabis programs, (b) establishing dual registration of Tribal patients, (c) providing for transportation of medical cannabis by manufacturers registered with Tribal medical cannabis programs, and (d) authorizing Tribal compacts regarding medical cannabis, has been hard and approved by the House Health Finance and Policy Committee and the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee and is now re-referred back to the House Health Finance and Policy Committee where it may be incorporated into the House Health Finance Omnibus Bill. The bill’s senate companion, S.F. 3981 (Koran), has not been scheduled for a hearing.
H.F. 2996 (Vang), a bill authorizing the use of hemp extract as a food additive for intrastate commerce and directing the MN Department of Agriculture to promulgate rules governing the production, manufacturing, testing, and labeling of foods containing hemp extract, has been heard and approved by the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee and the House State Government Finance and Elections Committee and is now re-referred back to the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee where it may be incorporated into the House Agriculture Finance Omnibus Bill. The bill’s senate companion, S.F. 3969 (Housley), has not been scheduled for a hearing.
Here’s the current lowdown on the relevant omnibus bills:
The vehicle for the House Public Safety Omnibus Bill will be H.F. 4608 (Mariani). The author’s Delete-Everything amendment (which constitutes the omnibus bill) has not yet been released but will be available here. The bill is scheduled for the following hearings and deadlines:
On Tuesday, April 5, at 1:00PM the committee will take testimony on amendments to be included in the omnibus bill. Hearing details, instructions for testifying, and relevant documents can be found and will be updated here.
Wednesday, April 6, at 2:00PM is the deadline for submitting amendments to the omnibus bill. The same date at 7:00PM is deadline for submitting amendments to the amendments.
On Thursday, April 7, at 1:00PM the committee will begin markup of the omnibus bill. Hearing details and relevant documents can be found and will be updated here.
On Friday, April 8, at 1:00PM the committee will continue markup of the omnibus bill. Hearing details and relevant documents can be found and will be updated here.
The vehicle for the Senate Public Safety Omnibus Bill will be S.F. 2673 (Limmer). The author’s Delete-Everything amendment (which constitutes the omnibus bill) can be viewed here. The omnibus bill is scheduled for a hearing and final vote on Friday, April 1, at 10:00AM. No public testimony will be taken. Some relevant highlights from the DE amendment include:
On page 7, an ongoing annual increase of $2.5M for additional violent crime enforcement teams (VCETs).
Additional insight from Kurtis Hanna: VCETs are what our state statutes call our state’s drug enforcement task forces. Here's a video clip where Limmer talked briefly about his bill’s proposed funding increase for VCET. I obtained data on VCET arrests and seizures in 2021 from the Department of Public Safety, and it shows that 370 of the 1709 people arrested by VCETs for drugs were Black which is 21.65% of the drug arrests. The census data I pulled today shows only 7% of Minnesotans are Black.
On page 43, the addition of enhanced penalties for carjackings used in furtherance of “crimes of violence” including the sale of synthetic cannabinoids and certain medical cannabis violations.
The vehicle for the House Agriculture Finance Omnibus Bill will be H.F. 4366 (Sundin). The author’s Delete-Everything amendment (which constitutes the omnibus bill) has not yet been released but will be available tomorrow, April 1, here. The bill is scheduled for the following hearings and deadlines:
On Monday, April 4, at 1:00PM the committee will take testimony on the omnibus bill. Hearing details, instructions for testifying, and relevant documents can be found and will be updated here.
Tuesday, April 5, at 4:00PM is the deadline for submitting amendments to the omnibus bill.
On Wednesday, April 6, at 1:00PM the committee markup and take a final vote on the omnibus bill. Hearing details and relevant documents can be found and will be updated here.
The House Health FInance Omnibus Bill is typically among the last to be released. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
2. BILL HEARINGS
→ On Friday, March 25, the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee approved H.F. 3595 (Edelson), the Board of Pharmacy’s bill on the regulation of products containing cannabinoids, as amended. The bill was approved on a 16-0 vote and has been re-referred back to the House Health Finance and Policy Committee where it will be incorporated into the House Health Finance Omnibus Bill. The bill’s senate companion, S.F. 3761 (Koran), has not been scheduled for a hearing.
The approved bill (a) closes the Loveless Loophole by clarifying that products containing non-intoxicating cannabinoids extracted from hemp are not Schedule I controlled substances as long as they contain less than 0.3% THC, (b) authorizes the sale of edible cannabinoid products subject to specific marketing and packaging requirements, (c) limits the sale of hemp-derived products meant for human consumption to individuals aged 21 and older, (d) allows product manufacturers to supply required labeling information via barcode or QR code, and (e) clarifies that it is the products containing cannabinoids that must be tested, not just the hemp from which the cannabinoids are extracted. A detailed summary of the bill prepared by House Research is available here.
Friday’s hearing can be viewed here and included testimony from Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Cody Wiberg, Nothing But Hemp owner and MN Cannabis Association board member Steven Brown, and Midwest Vapor Coalition President Sue Sindt. Written letters of support submitted to the committee can be found here.
3. LATEST BILL INTRODUCTIONS
→ Yesterday, Sen. Mark Koran (R-North Branch) introduced S.F. 4389, a bill to eliminate the state’s statutorily-mandated medical cannabis manufacturing duopoly by requiring that the Department of Health register at least 4 and up to 10 medical cannabis manufacturers. The bill is the senate companion to H.F. 4387 (Gomez). It has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee.
4. CANNABIS BUSINESS TIMES SPOTLIGHT ON MN HEMP INDUSTRY
→ Yesterday, the Cannabis Business Times published an article about how and why Minnesota’s hemp industry has maintained relatively stability as compared to other states that have seen a decline in the number of licensed hemp producers due to oversupply and declining prices. The article features insights from Katy Mutschler, the hemp program coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, as well as David Ladd of the Minnesota Industrial Hemp Manufacturers Association and Riley Gordon of the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI). Among the things the article highlights are efforts in Minnesota to develop the hemp industry beyond cannabinoids to include fiber and plastics.
5. COVERAGE OF BILL TO BREAK UP MEDICAL CANNABIS DUOPOLY
→ KSTP provided coverage earlier this week on H.F. 4387 (Gomez)/S.F. 4389 (Koran), the proposed legislation to increase the number of medical cannabis manufacturers in Minnesota from two to a minimum of four and up to ten. The article features statements from Sen. Mark Koran as to how the bill could help improve prices for medical cannabis patients, as well as statements from Dr. Stephen Dahmer, chief medical officer at Green Goods (one of the two duopoly manufacturers), defending the current regime and higher prices for patients.