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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Begay

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/28/07

03/05/07 HB HM 49/HAGC

SHORT TITLE Study Legal Hemp Industry

SB

ANALYST Williams

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAGC Amendment

The House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee amendment to House Memorial 49

changes the references to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to the New Mexico State

University Board of Regents and would transmit a copies of the memorial to the Dean of the

College of Agriculture and Home Economics at NMSU (rather than the director of the New

Mexico Department of Agriculture).

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Memorial 49 notes the value of and current market conditions for industrial hemp. The

memorial urges the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) prepare a detailed

economic analysis of the potential for a legal hemp industry in New Mexico. The study is to

include long-term impacts, cost of establishing proper permitting and licensing procedures, an

analysis of costs and benefits and consideration of the various market uses of industrial hemp

and associated products.

In addition, the memorial urges the United States Congress to recognize the value of industrial

hemp as an agricultural commodity, to define industrial hemp in federal law and to acknowledge

House Memorial 49 – Page

2

industrial hemp production in improving the nation’s balance of trade and in contributing to

improvements in global climate change and carbon sequestration.

Copies of the memorial would be sent to the director of the New Mexico Department of

Agriculture, the President of the United States, the secretary of the United States Department of

Agriculture, the chair of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and

Forestry, the chair of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture and

the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The memorial does not include an appropriation.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

House Memorial 49 proponents make the argument that industrial hemp is a high-value, low-

input crop that is not genetically modified, requires no pesticide, can be dry-land farmed, and

uses less fertilizer than some other crops.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

NMDA notes the Department would incur costs to undertake this study, because the agency does

not typically conduct this type of research and does not have expertise in the area of industrial

hemp. NMDA would need to engage university partners to produce the study.

AW/nt