Latest news with #HouseBill401
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Vermont exempts some home kitchen businesses from licensing fees
MONTPELIER, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – Vermonters looking to sell at the state's over 60 farmers markets will have an easier time getting started. Governor Phil Scott on Monday signed House Bill 401 (H. 401), which eases the limits for how much some small food businesses can sell before being required to pay a licensing fee. Those fees can be as high as $350 for some bakeries in the state. Five farmers markets to visit in Vermont this weekend The bill passed the Vermont House May 20 without a floor vote, after passing the Senate a week earlier. It was sponsored by over 30 representatives, including Democrats, Republicans, and independents. H. 401 defines the new category of 'cottage food operators', which covers people who make in their home kitchen any of a wide variety of foods that do not easily spoil, including dry herbs and nuts, candy, dry coffee and tea, jams, and granola. According to current law, all food businesses that make above $10,000 a year in sales are required to pay a fee. With this new bill, this limit is $30,000 a year for this kind of food operation, or about $575 a week. Read the full text of the bill hereDownload Also included are certain types of home-canned goods. H. 401 allows the Commissioner of Health to add other items to the category later, which could expand the exemption to include even more of the vendors at local markets. Group in South Burlington buys land for regenerative farm The bill cites the goal that 'Vermonters have more access to the local food marketplace as bothproducers and consumers', along with higher supply-chain costs and the demand for local products made in Vermont by visitors to the state. H. 401 will take effect on July 1 of this year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM AG opposes U.S. House GOP efforts to restrict state laws on AI
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technology has made it easier to create believable but totally fake videos and images and spread misinformation about elections, experts say. (Tero Vesalainen / Getty Images) New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez recently signed onto a letter backed by 39 other attorneys general opposing efforts by U.S. House Republicans to restrict states for the next decade from passing laws related to artificial intelligence. 'Artificial Intelligence will be the most impactful technology of our generation and states must have the ability to shepherd its progress in a safe and responsible way,' Torrez said in a statement. 'While Congress has failed to act, we've worked hard to develop new proposals—like House Bill 401—which would have penalized the use of AI-generated content for harassment, extortion, or defamation, and created tools to detect harmful synthetic media and unmask bad actors. Though it didn't pass, strong state-level protections are still urgently needed, and states must have the flexibility to regulate this emerging technology if Congress refuses to act.' Republicans added the clause restricting states' laws on AI to the U.S. House budget bill congressional they hope to pass before Memorial Day. The measure, advanced on May 14, as part of the House Energy & Commerce Committee's budget reconciliation proposal. Exceptions to the state ban would include laws that 'remove legal impediments to, or facilitate the deployment or operation of' AI systems. In their letter, the AGs write that the 'promise of AI raises exciting and important possibilities. But, like any emerging technology, there are risks to adoption without responsible, appropriate, and thoughtful oversight. In the absence of federal action to install this oversight, over the years, states have considered and passed legislation to address a wide range of harms associated with AI and automated decision-making.' Those harms include 'deep-fakes designed to mislead voters and consumers,' the letter notes. In addition to HB401, which did not make it out of the state House Commerce & Economic Development Committee during the most recent legislative session, New Mexico Democrats backed a so-called Artificial Intelligence Act, which did not make it through the session, but would have created a state regulatory AI framework. A signed memorial created an AI working group for the Legislative Education Study Committee, aimed at making recommendations on AI's use in education, among other topics.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania could be getting an official state reptile
(WHTM) — A Pennsylvania lawmaker proposed a bill that would make the Eastern Box Turtle Pennsylvania's official state reptile. House Bill 401, created by Rep. Perry Stambaugh (R-Perry/Juniata), would designate the ubiquitous Eastern Box Turtle as Pennsylvania's state reptile. The bill has garnered support from the House Game & Fisheries Committee. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'The Eastern box turtle can be found across the Commonwealth in rural, suburban, and even urban habitats: shrubby grasslands, marshy meadows, open woodlands, and field forest edges,' Rep. Stambaugh said. 'The turtles are often found near streams or ponds, or areas that have experienced heavy rainfall. Box turtles generally live for 25 to 35 years, but they have been known to survive for more than 100 years.' According to Stambaugh, the Eastern Box Turtle is becoming an at-risk species, as its population is declining due to habitat fragmentation. He argues that making the turtle the state reptile would significantly help with conservation efforts. Pennsylvania's state animal is the White-tailed deer. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Will Idaho legalize medical marijuana? State lawmakers open discussion
Jeremy Kitzhaber speaks to the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee to advocate for medical marijuana. He previously served in the U.S. Air Force as a civil engineer and first sergeant. He has stage four cancer, which he developed while transporting radioactive materials in the military. In the blue bag to his right, he stores opioids, anti-anxiety medication and Narcan. (Photo by Mia Maldonado/Idaho Capital Sun) Jeremy Kitzhaber, a U.S. Air Force veteran, held up a blue lunch bag to a committee of Idaho lawmakers on Monday which he uses to store the drugs meant to soothe his pain, including hydrocodone, morphine and oxycodone. Kitzhaber has a rare type of stage four cancer that he developed while transporting radioactive and hazardous materials in the military. He can take those strong opioids at any point in the day — in addition to the drugs he takes to keep his cancer from growing and manage his bowel and anxiety. However, the one drug he cannot legally take is marijuana. Idaho has some of the strictest laws against any kind of marijuana usage, but an informational hearing held in the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee opened the discussion for Kitzhaber to advocate for a bill to legalize medical marijuana for Idahoans living with chronic pain and answer lawmakers' questions about what legalizing marijuana would look like in Idaho. Kitzhaber has been working on legislation to legalize marijuana for six years, and this year, Reps. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, and Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d'Alene, named House Bill 401, or the 'Sergeant Kitzhaber Medical Cannabis Act,' after him. The sponsors introduced it as a personal bill, meaning it has no chance of advancing this session and is intended to send a message. Unique to most of its neighboring states, marijuana is recreationally and medically illegal in Idaho. During the 2025 legislative session alone, lawmakers passed at least two pieces of legislation aimed to restrict marijuana usage in Idaho. This includes a bill signed by the governor and set to take effect July 1 to implement a $300 minimum fine for individuals found possessing less than three ounces marijuana. Another piece of legislation passed in both chambers is a proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution that, if approved by voters, would make it so that only the Idaho Legislature has the power to legalize marijuana and other narcotics. House Bill 401 is modeled after Utah's legislation, Rubel told the committee, who said Idaho lawmakers should at some point consider this type of legislation. The bill would move marijuana from a schedule 1 drug to a schedule 2 controlled substance. It would allow medical practitioners to give medical cannabis cards to patients who are at least 21 years old and diagnosed with qualifying conditions such as cancer, ALS, AIDS, Crohn's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other debilitating illnesses. The card would be valid for up to one year, and renewal must be sought after. Under the bill, individuals with medical cannabis cards would not be subject to prosecution for certain amounts of marijuana possession. 'The bill does not legalize cannabis, it only decriminalizes it,' Kitzhaber said. Rep. Rob Beiswenger, R-Horseshoe Bend, asked Kitzhaber how the bill addresses preventing the smell of marijuana from reaching the public. Kitzhaber said it would be illegal to use medical marijuana in public, and users who violate the policy once would lose their card. Kitzhaber has gone through 150 rounds of cancer treatment and eight different types. His monthly treatment and medicine costs $17,000, he said. He's tried marijuana in states where it is legal, and he said it helped him sleep. It is safer and less expensive than the opioids he takes now, he said. Allowing medical marijuana would help him and other veterans with similar conditions, he told the committee, but Kitzhaber said he does not risk using it in Idaho because it would put his veteran benefits at risk. 'I have an exemplary military career. I don't have a criminal record, and I don't want one for something like this,' Kitzhaber said. This article was first published by the Idaho Capital Sun, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Montana legislators propose outlawing lab-grown meat products
A cattle roundup is pictured at Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Station near Miles City. (USDA photo, Jack Dykinga) A proposal to ban lab-grown meat in Montana cleared the House last week and will head to the Senate after this week's legislative break. House Bill 401, brought by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, would criminalize the sale of meat grown in a lab. A similar bill passed in Florida last year and an injunction against the law being put in place was denied by a federal judge in the Sunshine State late last year. Supporters of the bill pointed to the 2.1 million cows being raised for beef in the state and questions around unknown human health effects from consuming lab-grown meat. There were no opponents in the bill's hearing. 'I have some grave concerns over the use and production of lab-grown meat,' Rep. Randyn Gregg, R-White Sulphur Springs, who is co-sponsoring the legislation, said during the hearing. 'The process is a fusion of dystopia. One could call it Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' meets Keanu Reeves in 'The Matrix.'' The bill has more than 70 co-sponsors, mostly Republican, with a handful of Democrats joining in. The sponsors include much of the Republican Senate and House leadership. The bill passed its third reading to move to the Senate on a 64-35 vote. Mitchell also specifically noted the bill was not targeting plant-based products designed to taste like meat. Plant-based meats are usually made from tofu, tempeh, or soy. Beyond any potential unknown health consequences, Mitchell said, it was also to help protect an important part of the Montana economy. The total value of the state's agricultural industry is about $4 billion, according to the Montana Legislative Fiscal Division. 'This bill will help promote the Montana agricultural industry and keep it strong and thriving in the state of Montana,' Mitchell said during his bill's hearing. 'I think we have a unique opportunity here to put the hammer down clearly and show that we stand with agriculture and that we stand with our cattle ranchers.' Lab-grown meat, which more simply is making food from animal cells, starts with a small sample of cells from a donor animal. According to the Food and Drug Administration, this can be done without harming or killing the animal. These cells are then selected, screened and grown. The cells grow in a controlled and monitored environment that supports the growth of the cells. Other nutrients, 'protein growth factors' are added to help the cells differentiate and can assume the characteristics of muscle, fat or connective tissue. Once the cells have multiplied enough times, they can be harvested and prepared for sale using traditional food processing and packaging norms. The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture are jointly overseeing the development of these relatively new food products. The FDA completed its first pre-market consultation of animal cell culture meat in November 2022, saying it had, 'no further questions at this time about the firm's safety conclusion.' The company, UPSIDE Foods, has sold its product in some places in the U.S. HB 401 would make selling the meat a misdemeanor, which did come up during debate on the House floor. 'I have a beef with this bill, a bone to pick, you might say. I don't want to get roasted here, but the stakes are just too high,' said Rep. SJ Howell, D-Missoula, during a March 4 floor session. 'In all seriousness, this bill puts a criminal penalty on selling this kind of meat, and goes from a labeling bill to a criminal penalty bill and that's just a little too far for me.'
