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Local Hemp Industry Warns Proposed State Bills Could Cost Jobs, Sales Tax Revenue
Summary
A Soddy-Daisy hemp farmer and industry advocates told commissioners that Tennessee bills SB1413 and HB1376 would devastate local hemp businesses and cost local jobs and tax revenue if enacted as written.
A local hemp grower told the Hamilton County Commission that pending state legislation (SB1413 and HB1376) targeting hemp-derived cannabinoid products could cause significant job and tax-revenue losses in the county.
Kathy Lennon, describing herself as a Hamilton County farmer, told commissioners the county has a "thriving legal hemp industry" and warned that the proposed bills would ban products that are federally legal, push sales underground or out of state, and jeopardize more than 1,200 jobs in retail, farming, manufacturing and logistics in Hamilton County. She urged county elected officials to support local businesses and families in the industry and invited commissioners to visit her farm in Soddy-Daisy to see the operations firsthand.
Lennon said the bills could close as many as 200 hemp retail stores statewide, remove oversight and reduce annual economic activity tied to hemp in the county, and threaten local sales tax revenue she quantified in her remarks. She called for "smart regulation, not prohibition," while acknowledging support for age restrictions and safety standards.
Commissioners acknowledged the potential local economic impact and registered the public comment for the record as the county proceeds through its budget and legislative-watching season.
