Industrial hemp and CBD oil legalization clears the Senate and is headed back to the House with amendments. Matt Doyle has more.
____________________________
Metairie Senator Danny Martiny is accusing House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry of abusing legislative rules to tank an effort to legalize sports betting…
_____________________________________________
The legislative battle over whether Louisiana should have a minimum age to get married continues. Legislators are pushing to set the minimum age at 17. Several GOP lawmakers oppose, including Houma Representative Beryl Amadee, who says she met her husband in their teenage years.
Cut 3 (09) “…have allowed it.”
An amendment was introduced that would preserve the lack of minimum age, but would require 16 and 17-year-olds have parental consent for marriage and judicial review for younger individuals. It’s an amendment that was met with opposition by Baton Rouge Representative Patricia Smith.
Cut 4 (10) “…really voting on.”
Lafayette Representative Nancy Landry says she’s for sending the bill to a conference committee prior to advancing the measure any further.
The conference committee will be a select group of House and Senate members that will attempt to set a minimum age for marriage that can receive approval before the legislative session ends on Thursday night.
________________________________________________
The Senate passes legislation legalizing industrial hemp production and CBD oil, but the upper chamber packed it with new amendments, so the proposal still needs House approval. Franklin Senator Bret Allain says farmers are itching to grow hemp, as the prices for rice, cotton, and soybeans are currently low.
Allain says over 30 states have, and are in the process of legalizing the plant’s production after a federal ruling that allowed state regulated crops.
Hemp proponents say the plant, and it’s derivatives, can be found in thousands of different products. Allain noted two of the most popular applications…
The first draft of the Declaration of Independence, and the Guttenberg Bible are thought to have been written on hemp paper.
The legislation calls for the Department of Agriculture to regulate the product and perform routine tests of crops to ensure their THC level, a hallucinogenic chemical, is not above .03 percent.
A state regulatory plan for production must be submitted to the USDA by November 1st.
____________________
On a 58-29 vote, the House approves a bill that prohibits Louisiana food manufacturers from labeling a food cauliflower rice if it doesn’t contain rice. The legislation also prohibits a food being called a veggie meat patty, if it doesn’t contain meat. Crowley Representative John Stefanski is a co-author of the bill
Monroe Representative Katrina Jackson voted for the bill because she says the labeling is confusing
Cut 10 (10) “…alternative products.”
Houma Representative Beryl Amedee was one of the more two dozen House members who voted against the bill. Amedee doesn’t see how consumers could be confused by a product called cauliflower rice and this legislation could limit certain products that consumers are looking for
Cut 11 (11) “…harder to access.”
__________________________
Metairie Senator Danny Martiny is accusing the House Appropriations Chairman of using dirty legislative tricks to destroy an effort to legalize sports betting.
Martiny says he had votes to pass it on the bill House floor, but for that to happen the chairman of the committee where the bill was killed must be present, and…
A call to Chairman Henry on the story has not been returned.
Martiny slammed Chairman Cameron Henry for allegedly “hiding out”, which prevented the vote on sports betting from taking place. Martiny says Henry abused legislative rules to advance his agenda.
Henry opposes the legalization of sports betting.
Earlier today Martiny amended a fantasy sports regulation bill to include sports gambling, but the combined bill failed amid concern from legislators like Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt…