A strike all amendment passed by Connecticut’s House of Representatives on April 20 that replaced HB 5350, a sweeping cannabis and hemp regulation bill, removed a provision that would have made changes to cannabis ownership establishments’ public records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The bill also expands a board that regulates hemp and cannabis and specifies that their quarterly meetings and records are not subject to FOIA.

A 2025 law established the State-Wide Cannabis and Hemp Enforcement Policy Board, which meets quarterly to “identify areas of need and enforcement opportunities concerning illegal cannabis sales and intoxicating hemp product sales,” “examine scientific developments and public health studies concerning cannabis and hemp,” and to examine other national trends and developments in the cannabis and hemp industries.

Board membership includes the attorney general, the Chief State’s Attorney, and commissioners or their designees of the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), the Department of Emergency Services of Public Protection (DESPP), the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), the Department of Public Health (DPH), the Department of Revenue Services (DRS), and the Social Equity Council’s executive director.

Under the new language in HB 5350, the board is renamed to the State-Wide Cannabis, Hemp and Controlled Substances Enforcement Board and designees from DPH and the Social Equity Council are removed as members.

The language also explicitly exempts that “quarterly meetings of the board, and all documents related to such meetings, shall not be available to the public or subject to inspection or disclosure” under FOIA.

The strike all amendment also removed language that would have made material changes to cannabis establishments’ public records and disclosable through FOIA. The new language keeps the existing statute, which stipulates that the notice information cannabis establishments are required to file with the attorney general’s office when they are considering a change in ownership is not subject to FOIA disclosure.

The changes come as an unwelcome move to some cannabis advocates who have criticized a lack of transparency in the industry.

“Amendment A to HB5350 is a massive step backward for government transparency. By stripping away FOIA protections, lawmakers are effectively shielding the cannabis industry from public scrutiny. You cannot have accountability without transparency. Right now, this industry needs sunlight, but our policymakers are aggressively closing the blinds.” cannabis advocate Louis Rinaldi, who has previously criticized the lack of availability of ownership records, told Inside Investigator.

The creation of the cannabis enforcement board was part of a multi-pronged effort in the 2025 cannabis bill to crack down on the unlicensed sale of the drug, particularly at smoke shops. As part of the bill, cannabis control was spun off from DCP’s broader drug control division, though the split was not put into effect before an apparently retaliatory investigation of a cannabis cultivator who criticized DCP’s testing procedures.

During House debate, Rep. David Rutigliano (R-Trumbull) questioned why the enforcement board’s meetings were being put outside the scope of FOIA.

“Does the General Law Committee have that authority to bind that committee so the public can’t figure out what they’re talking about?” Rutigliano asked.

Sen. Roland Lamar (D-New Haven), chair of the General Law Committee, acknowledged that the board has the ability to maintain records but ultimately did not provide an explanation of why the meetings were being exempted. There is currently no public-facing information available about the status of the board or any meetings it has held.

The bill was placed on the Senate calendar on April 22 and now awaits a vote in that chamber.