McConnell Offers Congressional Hemp Bill to Fix ‘Glitches’Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to members of the media following a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. McConnell orchestrated successful efforts last year to attach hemp legalization language to the new federal farm bill. While hemp’s commercialization is still in its infancy, Quarles said he hopes Kentucky hemp someday becomes as recognizable as Kentucky bourbon and horses. McConnell, who led the push in Congress to legalize hemp last year, said Monday that regulations might be sufficient to help some aspects of the hemp business. Processors paid Kentucky farmers $17.75 million for harvested hemp materials in 2018, up from $7.5 million the year before.