The three-member board of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) and agency leadership meet weekly as the Executive Management Team to facilitate coordination between the appointed Board and staff.
WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(May 2, 2018)
- USA - Washington
- Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB)
- WSLCB - Executive Management Team
Wednesday May 2, 2018 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Observed
Observations
A legislative discussion was followed by a talk about increased collaboration with law enforcement against the illicit cannabis market before the Board considered speculation on oversupply of legal cannabis.
Here are some observations from the May 2nd WSLCB Executive Management Team meeting.
My top 3 takeaways:
- WSLCB Director of Legislative Affairs Chris Thompson visited with the Executive Management Team (transcript, audio).
- He briefed the Team on the process and timeline for agency request legislation: how the WSLCB presents proposals for activity during the next legislative session to the Governor’s Office.
- WSLCB Chair Jane Rushford then asked for an update on WSLCB’s interim study on home delivery to medical patients, initiating an interesting discussion. It appears WSLCB wants to take steps to include patients as stakeholders in the study. WSLCB Member Russ Hauge volunteered to be the primary point of contact on the Board for the study (transcript, audio).
- WSLCB Chief of Enforcement Justin Nordhorn shared an update on progress towards increased collaboration with the Washington State Patrol on enforcement actions against illicit market activity (mentioning potential ties to the regulated marketplace), financial crimes, and hidden ownership (transcript, audio).
- WSLCB Director Rick Garza discussed his experience speaking at the Central Washington University (CWU) Cannabis Caucus and his favorable impression of a theory on oversupply put forward by the CWU Dean of Economics. Member Hauge suggested the WSLCB invite the Dean or other state university economics experts to coach the Board on economics and market theories (transcript, audio).
Follow Up (May 11, 2018)
Here are some documents from last Wednesday’s WSLCB Executive Management Team meeting (May 2) obtained via public record requests.
- Licensing Update – Pending Retail Applications (502 and 5052) and Jurisdiction Update (5052 Applicants). Includes a list of the 28 retail licenses remaining for allotment and the open (7) or closed (21) jurisdictions they are in.
- Licensing Update – Retail License Forfeiture Status and Retail Title Certificate Program. As of April 2018, there were 114 retailers not reporting sales. Ten retailers eligible for a title certificate had applied as of the writing of the document.
- 2018 Agency Request Legislation Timeline. This document shows the WSLCB’s process and timeline for generating requests for legislative activity to be submitted to the Governor’s Office alongside the WSLCB’s budget request. The second page is a template/questionnaire for gathering requests within the WSLCB.