Hemp Beverage Bill Gains Fifth House Cosponsor

NATIONAL, September 26, 2026: Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., signed on September 21 as the fifth cosponsor of the Beverage Regulatory Parity Act, a bipartisan House bill that would regulate hemp-derived THC beverages under a federal, alcohol-style framework, according to The Marijuana Herald.

Van Orden's addition brings the bill, H.R. 10079, to two Republicans and three Democrats: original sponsor Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, and Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, who introduced it together in August, followed by Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Susie Lee, D-Nev. The bill would place hemp-derived THC beverages under Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau oversight, in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department, with a 5-milligram total intoxicating THC cap per serving, a 750-milliliter cap on multi-serving containers, an 8-cent-per-milligram federal excise tax and 21-and-over retail rules. The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Total Wine & More and American Beverage Licensees have endorsed it.

The bill remains with the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, with no hearing or markup scheduled. It is one of two competing House vehicles for a permanent hemp framework: the Lawful Hemp Protection Act, which would set a 1 percent total THC threshold and Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau permitting instead, has eight cosponsors and has likewise seen no committee action since early September.

Federal attention on hemp this week was otherwise limited. The Food and Drug Administration has not published the cannabinoid list and container guidance it was statutorily required to issue by February 10, a lapse the Congressional Research Service has now flagged twice. No agency or congressional action moved either bill, or the FDA guidance, closer to resolution ahead of the December 11 deadline for most federal hemp restrictions to take effect.