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Bills from the 2017–18 session

Assembly Bill 147

Industrial hemp, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Mar 15, 2017

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Mar 28, 2018: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Agriculture. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Current law places various restrictions on the possession, manufacture, and delivery of controlled substances. One such controlled substance is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), including THC contained in or obtained from marijuana. The controlled substances law defines marijuana as all parts of plants of the genus Cannabis , whether growing or not, and most derivatives or preparations of the plants (though it does not include, for instance, fiber produced from the stalks or oil made from the seeds of the plants). THC is currently placed in the most restricted category of controlled substances, which means it may not be prescribed for medical use and may be manufactured and possessed only for particular purposes (such as research) under special permits.

This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to issue licenses that authorize the growing and processing of industrial hemp. Industrial hemp is defined as the plant Cannabis with a concentration of THC of no more than 0.3 percent. The bill requires an applicant for a license to provide a legal description and the GPS coordinates of the land on which industrial hemp will be grown or processed and to pay a fee for the license. The bill provides that a person may possess, transport, sell, distribute, or buy industrial hemp without a license if the industrial hemp was planted, grown, cultivated, and processed by a person licensed by DATCP. The bill requires reporting by a person with an industrial hemp license who transfers the hemp to a licensed processor.

Read the full summary

This bill also allows DATCP or an institution of higher education to establish an agricultural pilot program to study industrial hemp and to grow hemp for this purpose. In addition, the bill provides that a tribe may grow, possess, process, transport, or sell industrial hemp, but that a tribal member must have a license to grow or process industrial hemp, either from DATCP or from the member's tribe.

This bill allows DATCP, the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (UW-CALS), and the Wisconsin Crop Improvement Association to administer a voluntary seed certification program for industrial hemp and allows DATCP and UW-CALS to develop a Wisconsin heritage seed for industrial hemp.

Under the bill, any industrial hemp or industrial hemp product intended for human consumption must be tested by an independent testing laboratory. The bill sets out requirements related to the laboratory's accreditation, testing, and reporting.

This bill also creates an exemption from the controlled substances law for growing or processing industrial hemp in conformity with a license issued by DATCP.

Additionally, the bill creates an exemption for possessing, transporting, delivering, selling, distributing, and buying industrial hemp if the industrial hemp was planted, grown, cultivated, and processed by a person licensed by DATCP. Under the bill, industrial hemp is also removed from the current definition of “marijuana.” Finally, this bill requires DATCP to promulgate rules for the administration of the licensing law and for certifying and testing industrial hemp, industrial hemp products, and industrial hemp seed.

This bill does not change federal law. Growing and possessing the plant Cannabis is generally prohibited by federal law. The 2014 federal farm bill, 7 USC 5940 , authorizes a state agriculture department or an institution of higher education to grow industrial hemp for research purposes, if the state's laws allow the growing of industrial hemp by a state agricultural agency or institute of higher education.

Who's behind it

18 lawmakers are its ⁠. 17 are Democrats and 1 is a Republican.

6 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 24 names

Authors (18)

Signed on in support (6)

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

What happened

  1. Mar 28, 2018

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. May 30, 2017

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. May 8, 2017

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  4. Mar 15, 2017

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Agriculture.

  5. Mar 15, 2017

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Mar 15, 2017 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Considine, Pope, C. Taylor, Kolste, Spreitzer, Milroy, Sargent, Crowley, Subeck, Berceau, Sinicki, Hesselbein, Brostoff, Bowen, Ohnstad, Zamarripa, Barca and Quinn; cosponsored by Senators L. Taylor, Erpenbach, Miller, Ringhand and C. Larson

  2. Mar 15, 2017 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture

  3. May 8, 2017 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. May 30, 2017 · Assembly

    Representative Genrich added as a coauthor

  5. Mar 28, 2018 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate

More in the glossary