PIERRE, S.D. — Lawmakers in the Senate rewrote a bill to legalize industrial hemp on Monday in an attempt to ensure it meets Gov. Kristi Noem’s demand of $3.5 million for the program.
The proposal entered a state of flux as the Senate replaced the 26-page bill with a single placeholder sentence.
The legislative maneuver allows Senators to negotiate with House lawmakers to include the funding in the bill.
Senators who supported the rewrite insisted that the hemp bill is not dead.
They said they expect the hemp bill to come back the way it was written, just with the governor’s figures for funding included in the bill.
