- April 18, 2024
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State Sen. Travis Hutson has been appointed to chair one of the Senate’s most influential committees: Regulated Industries.
The Regulated Industries Committee handles regulations pertaining to industries ranging from gaming to homeowners associations to medical marijuana. (See the full list HERE.)
Hutson, whose district includes St. Johns County, Flagler County and northern Volusia County, learned of his new appointment on Tuesday, Nov. 29.
“I was very excited when I got the news," Hutson said. "It’s a big committee. There’s a lot coming up. ... You’ll see us take up issues, maybe, about medical marijuana, gaming, possibly alcohol distillery legislation.”
With the passage of the medical marijuana amendment in the recent general election, Hutson said, the state will need to consider regulatory details.
“What we are looking at is how it’s regulated through the state,” he said. “We’ve got a limited number of providers, a limited number of dispensaries.” The committee, Hutson said, could consider whether to ease the approval process for those facilities. Another Senate committee, the Health Policy Committee — which Hutson has also been appointed to, as a member — will likely take up other issues related to medical marijuana.
“The policy side would be who would have access, what individuals should be given access,” Hutson said. “And that’s going to be a healthy discussion.”
The Regulated Industries Committee may also look at reforms to the gaming industry, and at rules for alcohol distilleries, such as consideration of allowing certain distilleries to sell alcohol on the premises.
Hutson has also been appointed to be a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources, the Commerce and Tourism Committee, the Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, and the Health Policy Committee.
Hutson expects that he’ll also be busy in the upcoming legislative session dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
“We’ve got to figure out where we’re going to get money to see how we’re going to rebuild these beaches after Hurricane Matthew,” he said, “so people coming here for tourism know that we’re open and ready to go.”
And in the Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, Hutson said, “We’re going talk a lot about all the discharge that’s coming out of Lake Okeechobee … because we can’t just keep pumping water out, and destroying these beautiful areas, that people rely on for tourism.”
