WRIT 3152 Experiential Activity
Georgia Capitol Trip Experience
I visited the Georgia Capitol with a few of my classmates back in late March. When we first arrived, we all got a group picture together while watching live videos of a current session taking place.
We then met up with Professor Pincock to go sit in a committee meeting. We also got to go see the Senate Chamber up close in between hearings.
The committee meeting we ended up sitting in was for the Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, and one of the bills on their current agenda we got to hear about was on Senate Bill 33 LC 55 0524S (SCS).
At the beginning of the committee meeting, I would like to note that they started off with a prayer before beginning their discussion. Given that we were in an official government building, not to mention the fact that I thought the whole point was that we are supposed to keep church and government separated, including praying, I found it very odd.
Moving along to the actual content of the meeting, the bill that was being discussed was called the “Georgia Hemp Farming Act”. SB 33’s main purpose is to look at the total concentration of THC within consumable hemp products being sold.
Throughout the committee’s discussion, a reoccurring point brought up was the semi-vague language being used in the bill, with several committee members dissecting different phrases throughout the bill to gain a better understanding of what the language used to specifically referring to, especially language regarding vaping.
Other points that were discussed involved highlighting the current lack of regulation, testing, and labeling of hemp products, and clearly defining the difference between nicotine vapes and THC vapes. Another important issue that was highlighted was making sure language used could be federally accepted, as the committee wanted to make sure this bill did not interfere with a federal bill expected to pass later this year in November and this state bill would be expected to officially up by January 1st, 2027.
The committee vote near the end of the meeting ended with no opposition to the bill.