Governor Seeks to Regulate Hemp Industry
Without Republican Legislature's Approval
Capitol Inside
September 10, 2025
Governor Greg Abbott sought to expand his singular power dramatically on Wednesday when he issued an executive order to establish a comprehensive regulatory system for a booming THC industry in Texas after the GOP-controlled Legislature failed to do the job this year.
Abbott's decree on hemp is an unprecedented move that Texas lawmakers will view as an infringement on their territory that disrespects the separation of powers in state government here. But the Republican governor argued that he was forced to take action as a consequence of legislative remiss.
"WHEREAS, the Legislature did not pass any legislation
concerning consumable hemp products, not even a ban for minors, leaving in place the status quo," according to the edict that Abbott signed and executed today.
Abbott put the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the Department of State Health Services in charge of a rulemaking process for the regulation of THC complete with a prohibition on the sale of consumable hemp products to anyone under 21, age verification requirements and new standards for product testing, labeling, packaging and application and renewal fees for retailer licenses.
Abbott advised the state agencies that he controls in the executive branch to pattern the new regulatory framework for hemp products on legislation that GOP State Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park filed several days before a second special session ended a week ago. The proposal - House Bill 309 - was submitted for consideration on August 28 but never referred to committee.
Cain's measure may have been the basis to some degree for a tentative deal that House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Abbott thought they had with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on the final day of the second summer session. But Patrick refused to go along with anything less than an outright THC ban that he'd muscled through the Senate and the House in regular session.
“Texas will not wait when it comes to protecting children and families,” Abbott said. “While these products would still benefit from the kind of comprehensive regulation set by the Texas Legislature for substances like alcohol and tobacco, my executive order makes sure that kids are kept safe and parents have peace of mind now, and that consumers know the products they purchase are tested and labeled responsibly.”
Texas actually waited for six years before taking an interest in the fate of a hemp industry that mushroomed around the state after lawmakers approved a bill that legalized hemp in 2019 line with federal legislation that President Donald Trump signed the previous year during his first term in the White House.
Abbott sought to outlaw the synthetic THC variant Delta-8 in 2021 when he ordered state health officials to ban the substance with an administrative rule change. But a state district judge granted an injunction to business interests that challenged the DSHS ban - and the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear the state's appeal after appellate jurists sided with the lower court.
more to come ...
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