Tagged: Industrial Hemp Legislation

FRANKFORT, Ky.-- House Floor Leader Rocky Adkins is reporting progress in negotiations on a bill that would allow Kentucky to quickly license hemp growers if the federal government ever lifts a ban on the crop.

Adkins said Monday that he's optimistic a deal can be struck before the Legislature adjourns on Tuesday.

The hemp legislation has been hotly debated this year in Frankfort and was languishing in the House before Adkins stepped in with a proposal that seemed to revive it.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A proposal that could open the door to industrial hemp farming in Kentucky has cleared a House committee - but it still faces an uncertain future in the full chamber.

The House Agriculture and Small Business Committee approved the bill Wednesday morning. The vote was 24-1.

The legislation is intended to put Kentucky in position to quickly license hemp growers if the federal government lifts restrictions on growing it.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A proposal that could open the door to industrial hemp farming in Kentucky is scheduled for a vote in a House committee on Wednesday.

House Agriculture and Small Business Committee Chairman Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana, said Monday that he expects the measure to pass his committee and that he intends to vote for it himself.

The proposal, which the House wanted to rewrite, received a hearing but no vote last week. Since then, hemp supporters ratcheted up political pressure.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Steve Beshear says he wants law enforcement's concerns about industrial hemp resolved before Kentucky moves ahead with a push to grow the plant.

State police oppose the effort by Kentucky Republican leaders to license and regulate hemp if the federal government ever lifts a ban on it.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The comeback of industrial hemp in Kentucky has gained ground with state Senate passage of a bill to regulate the crop if the current federal ban is lifted.

The bill cleared the Senate on a 31-6 vote Thursday.

It now heads to the House, where its prospects are much less certain.

Industrial hemp once thrived in Kentucky, but the crop has been banned for decades since the federal government classified it as a controlled substance related to marijuana.