(C) Texas Tribune This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Blast - May 19, 2025 [1] ['The Texas Tribune'] Date: 2025-05 THC AMENDMENT INCOMING State Rep. Tom Oliverson will present an amendment tomorrow to revert the THC bill from a regulation back to a ban, potentially bringing the House in line with the Senate on a position that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says is worth a special session. House State Affairs Committee Chair Ken King, R-Canadian, has been carrying Senate Bill 3. However, his version would regulate consumable THC products instead of instituting the Patrick-backed ban. But on the House floor today, Oliverson and King were shopping the amendment with members, briefing them on the plan. Quorum Report’s Scott Braddock was the first with the news. “The speaker, Ken King and myself are all in agreement that the body should have an opportunity to vote on the issue,” Oliverson told The Blast. “The House committee substitute is a significant departure and a very different vision for how we would manage this going forward than what the Senate proposed, and we all are in agreement that we believe that the members need to have the option to have a vote — a clean vote on the issue.” Oliverson was a second-term member when the Legislature passed the hemp bill in 2019. The Cypress Republican, now chair of the Texas House Republican Caucus, said lawmakers repeatedly asked and were assured that the bill wouldn’t allow a backdoor to THC sales. “I feel like we were lied to. It was misrepresented,” Oliverson continued. “I feel like the industry is populated by a lot of manufacturers who are very unscrupulous and desire to satisfy the letter of the law while totally violating the intent.” Oliverson thinks he has the votes. Around 50 members have signed on to the amendment — Republicans and Democrats alike. The exact number is in flux, but expect it to be a serious debate tomorrow. Signers, as Oliverson later posted them on social media, included Democratic Reps. Alma Allen of Houston and Venton Jones of Dallas. Patrick has threatened to force a special session if the Legislature doesn’t ban THC. Notably, Oliverson and Patrick are neighbors in Cypress, and they share Allen Blakemore as their consultants. Part of the newfound appetite for the Senate version, Oliverson says, is that members feel more confident to support a ban now that the House has passed King’s HB 46, which modernizes the Texas Compassionate-Use Program. The Senate State Affairs Committee considered the TCUP bill this morning, although the hearing may have been a little premature. Sen. Charles Perry, the Lubbock Republican who is managing the THC bills in the Senate, told the panel that he would have a committee substitute for HB 46, but it’s not ready yet. He said he wanted to have the bill heard so they could fast-track it later on. Per Perry, HB 46 makes some improvements on the Senate version, SB 1505, but comes up short in other ways, including potentially opening a backdoor on THC. Sen. Brian Birdwell, a Republican from Granbury who serves on Senate State Affairs, likened it to placing C-4 on the door. [END] --- [1] Url: https://thetexastribune.beehiiv.com/p/the-blast-may-19-2025-2950e2cd375724cc Published and (C) by Texas Tribune Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission: https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/