---
type: "Bill"
title: "Aligning State And Federal Law On Hemp"
description: "The act aligns Colorado statutes on hemp with federal law, including adopting federal definitions; requiring authorized samplers to collect samples from each lot; changing the appointing authority for the industrial hemp advisory committee to the state agricultural commission; requiring that all key participants provide a criminal history record check from the federal bureau of investigation; eliminating authority to grow hemp for research and development purposes but authorizing a separate registration and waiver requirement; creating new reporting requirements; specifying unlawful acts and creating civil penalties for violations; and giving the commissioner of agriculture investigatory and subpoena authority."
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2020A"
identifier: "SB 20-197"
citation: "Colorado SB 20-197 (2020A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barbara McLachlan", "Marc Catlin", "Stephen Fenberg", "Vicki Marble"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 17
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2020-03-09T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2020-06-30T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2d124b3a-f3be-49ef-84b3-7c3c881c7620"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb20-197"
source_hash: "8c371b55810f5e6c0e8dd2a0b8e831e7e5a0e66df66dc221833d384045296baa"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 20-197 (2020A) — Aligning State And Federal Law On Hemp

The act aligns Colorado statutes on hemp with federal law, including adopting federal definitions; requiring authorized samplers to collect samples from each lot; changing the appointing authority for the industrial hemp advisory committee to the state agricultural commission; requiring that all key participants provide a criminal history record check from the federal bureau of investigation; eliminating authority to grow hemp for research and development purposes but authorizing a separate registration and waiver requirement; creating new reporting requirements; specifying unlawful acts and creating civil penalties for violations; and giving the commissioner of agriculture investigatory and subpoena authority.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2020a_sb197_h_app_003.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (06/04/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (06/22/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (03/09/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (06/02/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197sapp_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (06/11/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197app_01.pdf)
7. **Reengrossed (06/05/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197_ren.pdf)
8. **Rerevised (06/12/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197_rer.pdf)
9. **Revised (06/11/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_197_rev.pdf)
10. **Signed Act (06/30/2020)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2020a_197_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **33–1** (pass) · upper
- REPASS — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- CONCUR — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **64–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barbara McLachlan — primary (person)
- Marc Catlin — primary (person)
- Stephen Fenberg — primary (person)
- Vicki Marble — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-06-30T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2020-06-22T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2020-06-22T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2020-06-19T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-06-13T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2020-06-12T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-06-11T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2020-06-11T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2020-06-10T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Finance Refer Unamended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-06-09T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Energy & Environment Refer Unamended to Finance `referral-committee`
- **2020-06-05T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Energy & Environment `introduction`
- **2020-06-05T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-06-04T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor `reading-2`
- **2020-06-02T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2020-05-28T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Finance Refer Unamended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-05-27T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources Refer Unamended to Finance `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-09T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Agriculture & Natural Resources `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2d124b3a-f3be-49ef-84b3-7c3c881c7620`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).