Latest news with #CompassionateUseProgram
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas legislature moves to finalize bills in the final days of session
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Deadlines for passing bills on second and third readings have come and gone in the Texas Capitol, and now lawmakers turn their attention to the final steps of passing remaining bills in the final days of the session. At this point in the session, House bills amended by the Senate and Senate bills amended by the House are being returned to their originating chamber for final approval. The sponsor of the bill must tell each body if they concur with the changes made to their legislation. If not, the bill moves on to conference committee, like House Bill 3071 by State Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican from Fort Worth. He got up to the front mic of the House chamber to talk about amendments made to his bill, which relates to the cancellation of certain solid waste disposal permits. 'They're not any good and I am requesting to go to conference,' Geren said to thunderous cheers in the chamber, a point of levity after long consecutive days and nights of debating and voting. When a conference committee request is approved there are five members selected, known as conferees, from each chamber, including the two bill sponsors. What has been described as a closed-door negotiation between the ten members is actually more like a negotiation between two people. Dennis Bonnen, the former Speaker of the House, said most of the time negotiations begin even before a conference committee is called. 'Your lead author in the House, your lead author in the Senate, they're already talking. They've been talking through the whole process,' Bonnen explained. In fact, the other conferees are more symbolic and only provide a signature once an agreement has been made between the bill authors. Mark Strama, a former state lawmaker, and Bonnen both agreed they forgot they were conferees on a conference committee until they were asked to sign on to the final language of the bill. For a bill to pass out of conference committee it needs three signatures of approval from each coalition of conferees. It then goes back to each chamber for final approval from the full body. A majority of conference committees work just like that, but there are instances where legislation is significant enough that all members of the conference committee are contributing to the solution. One prime example is the appropriations bill, which funds the state over a two-year period. 'They're bigger issues. They're more significant. There's more volume to be dealt with,' Bonnen explained. This session, Bonnen believes the state's Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) is one of those bills that will need all hands on deck. Negotiations between the Senate and House have been ongoing for the past couple of weeks as the legislature moved to ban all hemp-derived intoxicants. There is a push to expand the TCUP to allow more people to be eligible for the medical cannabis program, and make it easier for patients to get their prescription. Strama also pointed out that conference committees can be used to revive bills that died either on the chamber floor or in committees. For the most part, conference committees are deciding between the differences in a House-approved and Senate-approved bill. But there is a procedure where the committee conferees could go out of bounds to add in additional provisions from other bills. It's known as going 'out of bounds.' To do this, the conference committee would have to go to each floor and ask for a resolution to go out of bounds. A majority of both chambers would need to approve that resolution. 'When you're out of power, you're looking for ways to stretch a conference committee report to extend to something to one of your bills that failed,' Strama said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Local Veteran reacts to incoming changes to medical marijuana legislation
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 46 have been the topics of heated debates through this most recent legislative session. The two bills have the state's medical marijuana industry hanging in the balance, and veterans are one of the groups directly affected. Local veteran Michael Kurtz doesn't use medical marijuana himself. He instead sees it as a Band-Aid solution, but it is important to his comrades. 'While it may produce a temporary fix for PTSD and anxiety, it generally just… it won't heal the issue. It won't fix the problem,' Kurtz said. While the legislature aims to ban the sale and possession of hemp THC products with SB 3, HB 46 is aiming to expand the state's Compassionate Use Program. Kurtz sees it as a correction of previous hasty medical marijuana legislation, and the two bills still might not be the final solution to the state's marijuana situation. 'How do you balance that to where we're regulating enough or we're not regulating enough and now we're regulating too much; we're not regulating enough,' Kurtz said. 'And that's the hard part, I think.' Senator Charles Perry authored the expansion of the Compassionate Use Program. The program allows for the use of medical marijuana but heavily regulates its distribution and THC content. 'It will be the largest cannabis… medical cannabis program regulated in the country, and probably the most well-designed,' Perry said. The expansion isn't without its critics either. Carlos Lopez, a dispensary owner in Wichita Falls, is wary of what might happen if the new and improved Compassionate Use Program isn't up to snuff by the time the ban goes into effect. 'If they can't get the compassionate use right away, like, you know, maybe they might go and put themselves in a risky situation where they're trying to get stuff off the black market, you know,' Lopez said. With both bills still awaiting approval, Kurtz hopes veterans can find a more permanent solution to whatever ails them. 'They need to find a community,' Kurtz said. 'And really, what it boils down to is if you have a community, you have somebody to talk to, somebody to communicate with. And that in general will help with, you know, reducing anxiety and reducing depression and things like that.' As the legislative session draws to a close, veterans' eyes will all be on SB-3 and HB-46 as they await final approval from Governor Abbott. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas Legislature OKs expansion of medical marijuana program as THC ban heads to Abbott
After days of contentious back-and-forth between the two Texas legislative chambers, the Senate late Tuesday night approved an expansion to the state's medical marijuana program. House Bill 46, by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, will expand the Texas Compassionate Use Program fourfold, upping the number of available dispensary licenses from the current three to 12 statewide. It passed the Senate unanimously after the House and Senate struck a deal to include chronic pain, terminal disease and hospice care as qualifying conditions for a cannabis prescription. The expanded medical program also adds aerosol cannabis products like vapes, along with patches and lotions. More: As Texas weighs banning consumable hemp containing THC, Austin shop sees 'stock buying' The deal marks a détente between the House and Senate on the subject as a sweeping ban on THC products is on its way to the governor's desk. The Senate had stripped House provisions for chronic pain as a qualifying condition for the Compassionate Use Program, drawing fierce blowback from House members who later pushed for the condition to be reinstated. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Senate want to ban intoxicating hemp products — which have been legal in Texas since 2019 — through Senate Bill 3, which was passed by both chambers in recent weeks. The House's version of the proposal instead called for increased regulation of THC product sales, but the upper chamber's version of the bill won the day. It's not yet clear if Gov. Greg Abbott plans to sign the bill. In a news conference Wednesday, during which Patrick displayed an array of THC products and sharply criticized members of the media for coverage of the THC ban and resulting inter-chamber conflict, the bill's author praised the TCUP expansion, which he said will still serve those who use THC medicinally while curbing dangerous hemp products. 'We promised on the front end, when we get rid of the bad stuff, we'll find a way to thread the needle for those that have found benefit,' said Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock. 'I think it's the relief we promised. … We're expanding the things that we believe are legitimate needs that can be met through a responsible delivery system.' This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature OKs expansion of medical marijuana program, THC ban
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
THC ban bill in Texas about ‘protecting kids' after 6-year flaw, officials say
(NewsNation) — A bill that would ban all products containing THC is now on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's desk after the Senate late Sunday approved the House version of the bill advanced by the lower chamber last week. NewsNation's Xavier Walton says lawmakers feel the bill will protect children. 'We can't regulate it,' Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. 'We don't have enough police to check every store, when there are 8 to 9,000 of them.' The bill came alongside a push by Texas Republicans to expand the state's medical marijuana program significantly. Under the new ban, possession of hemp products now carries a dramatically stricter penalty — a year in jail. The rule fixes a loophole in the 2019 Consumable Hemp Law that didn't allow products to contain more than trace amounts of delta-9 THC, nor establish that same threshold for other hemp derivatives. 'To put it into perspective, we only have 1,100 McDonald's in the state of Texas, 1,300 Starbucks in the state of Texas,' Patrick added. 'So, there are eight times more smoke shops selling this poison.' While state government officials argue that passing the bill would safeguard children, the economic impact the ban would have could be devastating to the state's economy. The hemp industry contributes $10.2 billion to the state, according to Whitney Economics. Local business owners acknowledged the bill is an 'overreach.' 'It's about $268 million in tax revenue that it's going to deplete,' said Jennifer Garza, owner of CBD American Shaman. 'And again, 53,000 Texans are going to be without a job. It's absolutely heartbreaking. I'm thinking about my customers, the veterans, all the business owners that are going to lose their jobs.' In passing the ban, Texas joins several states, including Colorado, Iowa, Arizona, Hawaii and Alaska, that have banned or restricted intoxicating forms of hemp, or the compounds derived from it. If signed by Abbott, the bill would take effect in September. Shops and business owners have until January to fully comply. Lawmakers also agreed to expand Texas's 'Compassionate Use Program,' which allows those with specific conditions to use low-level THC products. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
THC ban bill in Texas about ‘protecting kids' after six-year flaw, officials say
(NewsNation) — A bill that would ban all products containing THC is now on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's desk after the Senate late Sunday approved the House version of the bill advanced by the lower chamber last week. NewsNation's Xavier Walton says lawmakers feel the bill will protect children. 'We can't regulate it,' Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. 'We don't have enough police to check every store, when there are 8 to 9,000 of them.' The bill came alongside a push by Texas Republicans to expand the state's medical marijuana program significantly. Under the new ban, possession of hemp products now carries a dramatically stricter penalty — a year in jail. The rule fixes a loophole in the 2019 Consumable Hemp Law that didn't allow products to contain more than trace amounts of delta-9 THC, nor establish that same threshold for other hemp derivatives. 'To put it into perspective, we only have 1,100 McDonald's in the state of Texas, 1,300 Starbucks in the state of Texas,' Patrick added. 'So, there are eight times more smoke shops selling this poison.' While state government officials argue that passing the bill would safeguard children, the economic impact the ban would have could be devastating to the state's economy. The hemp industry contributes $10.2 billion to the state, according to Whitney Economics. Local business owners acknowledged the bill is an 'overreach.' 'It's about $268 million in tax revenue that it's going to deplete,' said Jennifer Garza, owner of CBD American Shaman. 'And again, 53,000 Texans are going to be without a job. It's absolutely heartbreaking. I'm thinking about my customers, the veterans, all the business owners that are going to lose their jobs.' In passing the ban, Texas joins several states, including Colorado, Iowa, Arizona, Hawaii and Alaska, that have banned or restricted intoxicating forms of hemp, or the compounds derived from it. If signed by Abbott, the bill would take effect in September. Shops and business owners have until January to fully comply. Lawmakers also agreed to expand Texas's 'Compassionate Use Program,' which allows those with specific conditions to use low-level THC products.
