11/01/2022 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION Office of Research and Drafting Legislative Budget Office Version: As Passed by the House Primary Sponsors: Reps. Fraizer and Lipps Local Impact Statement Procedure Required: No Shannon Pleiman, Senior Budget Analyst Highlights The Division of Food Safety within the Department of Agriculture will incurcoststo create a program to monitor and regulate the processing of kratom and kratom products. These costs would be offset by an annual license fee that is to be established in rule. Costs would be paid from the Kratom Program Fund which the bill creates for the Department to use to administer and enforce the program. The bill may minimally increase caseload for county prosecutors to prosecute violations of the bill's provisions. The bill establishes a minor misdemeanor for a first offense (maximum fine of $150) and a fourth degree misdemeanor for subsequent violations (maximum fine of $2S0 and a jail sentence of not more than 30 days). Detailed Analysis Regulation of kratom The Division of Food Safety within the Department of Agriculture will incur costs to create a program to monitor and regulate kratom processing. Specifically, the bill requires the Department to issue kratom processing licenses and establish procedures for testing and inspecting kratom products. The kratom processing license is valid for three years. The cost that will be incurred by the Department ultimately depends on the number of kratom processors, which is unknown. This cost may be offset by an annual license fee that is to be established in rule by the Department. License fees will be deposited into the Kratom Program Fund created by the bill. The Division employs 16 food safety specialists and 13 other food safety personnel. Depending on the number of licensed kratom processors, the Division may need to hire additional food safety specialists. Based on the state's employee classification plan, if a Food February u, zmzz