WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting
(January 10, 2023)

Here are some observations from the Tuesday January 10th Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) Committee Meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Jarrett Sacks, WA Senate LC Counsel, gave a staff briefing on SB 5123, "Concerning the employment of individuals who lawfully consume cannabis" (audio - 1m, video).
  • The measure was similar to 2022 legislation sponsored by Chair Karen Keiser.
  • Sacks went over the bill analysis which outlined how the measure “Prohibits employers, with some exceptions, from discriminating against a person in hiring if the discrimination is based on the person's use of cannabis outside of work or on certain employer-required drug screening tests.”
  • He noted there were exceptions for certain industries as well as companies with federal drug free workplace obligations. Sacks added the fiscal note wasn’t yet available.

• Four members of the public testified in favor of the bill, arguing existing policies stigmatized cannabis consumers and medical patients seeking employment.
  • 13 individuals registered as supporting the bill (testifying, not testifying).
  • Members of trade groups Washington Sun and Craft Growers Association (WSCA) and the Cannabis Alliance welcomed the legislative change, finding “little potential harm” from the change and several benefits for patients and adult consumers looking for work.
  • A panel from Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) supported the bill even as they called for more exemptions for construction workers. BEC member Damien Mims pointed out the bill “does not allow people in those trades that run shovels, push wheelbarrows” weren’t then allowed to “go home and enjoy the use of cannabis in their own leisure time and then come to work the next day totally fine.” 

• Five representatives of law enforcement, the construction industry, and trade unions implied the bill could hurt workplace safety efforts, or would benefit from revisions with stronger “carve outs” to exempt certain industries like those where workers operated heavy machinery or vehicles.
  • 15 individuals registered as “other,” or against the bill (testifying, not testifying).
  • Taylor Gardner, Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) Deputy Policy Director, wanted a more explicit allowance for law enforcement agencies to conduct pre-employment drug screenings as a way of ensuring compliance with requirements related to “federal law funding through grants and such” (audio - 1m, video).
  • Bob Battles, Lobbyist for the Association of Washington Business (AWB), believed the bill had been improved from previous versions, but felt exemptions to continue pre-employment testing didn’t cover enough industries and positions where workers were driving vehicles or operating machinery. Additionally, he called for language where such testing could continue for any business where the “employer policy” covered off-the-job cannabis consumption (audio - 1m, video).
  • Jim King, representing the Independent Business Association of Washington, argued that "this inadequate test" was still the best defense against workers being impaired at a jobsite. He suggested it was the responsibility of the cannabis sector and the State to fund development of better testing methods and that employers might now test new-hires to get around the bill’s restrictions (audio - 2m, video).
  • Bruce Chatten, speaking for “Sand and Gravel, Concrete and related facilities” expressed fears about the bill’s implication for their employee testing policies, even after Keiser emphasized the pre-employment nature of the change (audio - 2m, video).
  • Matthew Hepner from the Certified Electrical Workers of Washington found the legislation wasn’t inclusive enough of his fellow tradespersons, whose “skills are essential in making this industry literally grow.” He wanted those employees “excluded from the carve out” for pre-employment screening of construction workers (audio - 1m, video).

Here are some observations from the Tuesday January 10th Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) Committee Meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• WA Senate LC Counsel Matt Shepard-Koningsor briefed on SB 5080, "Expanding and improving the social equity in cannabis program" (audio - 3m, video).
  • A request bill from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB), Shepard-Koningsor noted the legislation’s relation to recommendations from the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF) and the social equity program at WSLCB. He then reviewed the bill analysis:
    • Amends the definitions of disproportionately impacted area, social equity applicant, and social equity plan in the Cannabis Social Equity Program (Program).
    • Incentivizes current cannabis licensees to submit a social equity plan to the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) by providing a one-time, onelicense annual fee reimbursement.
    • Authorizes LCB to increase the number of available cannabis retailer licenses for the Program based on population data, and contains provisions regarding portability of Program licenses.
    • Requires LCB to select a third-party contractor to review and score Program applications.
    • Shepard-Koningsor indicated the bill limited re-sale of the licenses to individuals who qualified as equity applicants for the first five years after issuance.
  • Though a fiscal note on the bill wasn’t available, Shepard-Koningsor told the committee WSLCB staff estimated it would cost $5 million through fiscal year (FY) 2025, but agency officials believed they would be covered by additional revenue generated by the cannabis sector.

• The bill sponsor and eight speakers extolled the virtues of the legislation’s potential impact on communities they identified as being left out of the adult-use cannabis market.
  • 84 individuals registered their support for the bill (testifying, not testifying).
  • WA Senate LC and WA SECTF Co-Chair Senator Rebecca Saldaña explained that she sponsored the bill as a way to “rectify and recognize" cannabis policy had "unintended or intended" disproportionate impacts of “both the War on Drugs and the way that our cannabis industry got implemented.” She stressed that she and fellow committee member and appointee Senator Curtis King had heard from many individuals and groups, and that SB 5080 didn’t reflect the totality of WA SECTF recommendations, they were a "very thoughtful and intentional step forward” (audio - 4m, video)
  • From WSLCB, Board Member Ollie Garrett argued in favor of the bill, as she felt “we need more flexibility to help those harmed by the war on drugs” find opportunities in the legal market (audio - 4m, video). Then, Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn praised the legislation’s alterations to social equity plans, the number of equity licenses, as well as limits on resale of equity licenses for five years (audio - 2m, video).
  • A panel of Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) members supported the bill as a partial solution to an “illusion of inclusion,” but called for an additional 100 producer/processor licenses so social equity licensees could be in more parts of the industry as well as increased oversight of WSLCB by an entity such as the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs (CAAA) or the Washington State Office of Equity.
  • Other testimony favorable to the bill was voiced by representatives for the City of Seattle and the Washington Sun and Craft Growers Association (WSCA).
  • Don Skakie of Homegrow Washington backed the bill and offered amended language to legalize limited home growing of cannabis by adults that was similar to 2021 legislation on the topic, and reflective of final recommendations from WA SECTF (audio - 2m, video, draft bill, reasoning).

• Three speakers testified as “other,” receptive to the bill if it was modified in ways to keep the retail market from being oversaturated; after having not heard remote speakers, the chair promised that testimony on the bill would resume at a subsequent hearing.
  • Four individuals registered as “other,” or against the bill (testifying, not testifying).
  • Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) Executive Director and Lobbyist Vicki Christophersen expressed reservations that a single jurisdiction might end up with the majority of new social equity businesses which she claimed would undermine the value of both new and existing cannabis businesses there. She also had concerns about increased licensing powers residing with WSLCB rather than lawmakers, and encouraged re-allocating unused producer or processor licenses instead of adding to the existing license pool (audio - 2m, video).
  • Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) representative Paul Jewel asked that “spatial” distribution be a factor considered by WSLCB staff so as not to not have retail consolidation in unincorporated areas of Washington counties. He was particularly concerned about counties where municipalities already had cannabis bans and moratoriums (audio - 1m, video).
  • Craft Cannabis Coalition (CCC) Executive Director Adán Espino was also mindful of retail saturation, claiming that 58% of cannabis retailers weren’t profitable nationwide and faced public safety challenges. He advised making community reinvestment money which had been added into the 2022 supplemental budget a permanent addition to cannabis appropriations (audio - 3m, video).
  • Chair Karen Keiser said that speakers who had signed up to testify remotely would be given the opportunity to speak at the beginning of the committee’s next public hearing on Thursday January 12th (audio - 1m, video).

Here are some observations from the Tuesday January 10th Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) Committee Meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Committee Counsel Matt Shepard-Koningsor offered a staff report on SB 5069, “Allowing interstate cannabis agreements" (audio - 2m, video).
  • Reviewing the initial bill analysis, Shepard-Koningsor noted the legislation:
    • Authorizes the Governor to enter into interstate cannabis agreements if the federal government legalizes cannabis, or the U.S. Department of Justice issues an opinion or memorandum allowing or tolerating the interstate transfer of cannabis.
    • Requires the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) to, upon either condition occurring, notify the Legislature and the Office of the Code Reviser of the act's effective date, and notify the Governor and the Legislature of necessary statutory changes.
    • Requires LCB to adopt rules necessary to authorize the sale, delivery, and receipt of cannabis in accordance with an interstate agreement.
  • Shepard-Koningsor indicated the legislatures in Oregon and California had already passed similar measures.

• The bill’s prime sponsor, Senator Ann Rivers, and leadership of four cannabis trade associations provided notably unified testimony in favor of the measure.
  • Ten individuals registered their support for the bill (testifying, not testifying).
  • Rivers asserted "the writing is on the wall from a federal perspective" and introduced the bill because she didn’t want Washington cannabis businesses to "get hung out to dry" once interstate commerce became viable (audio - 2m, video).
  • Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) Executive Director and Lobbyist Vicki Christophersen emphasized how the trigger bill would enable the Governor and regulators to take action should the legal landscape change while the state legislature was out of session (audio - 2m, video).
  • Producers Northwest Executive Director Ezra Eickmeyer noted the dormant commerce clause would force Washington borders open in the event of a change (audio < 1m, video).
  • The Cannabis Alliance Executive Director Burl Bryson was concerned Washington cannabis licensees could be unable to compete nationally for up to a year without proactive laws in place for interstate trade (audio - 1m, video).
  • Washington Sun and Craft Growers Association (WSCA) Board Member Micah Sherman advocated for a forward thinking policy to avoid arrangements that were “not going to be as intentional and well done, and that would be a much worse outcome” (audio < 1m, video).

• Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) members stood against the bill, arguing the sector should be made more equitable before expanding opportunities for all participants.
  • Ten individuals registered their opposition to the bill, all affiliated with BEC (testifying, not testifying).
  • BEC President Peter Manning opposed the bill because “once again our Black and Brown communities are not partaking” (audio - 2m, video).
  • BEC Vice President Mike Asai asserted “we need social equity here first before we think about anything interstate and whatnot” (audio < 1m, video).
  • BEC Executive Secretary Ahmed King lamented “the state of Washington is very progressive, has been on the forefront of cannabis since the beginning, but has dropped the ball when it comes to equity and diversity” (audio < 1m, video).
  • At publication time, BEC members had been consistently addressing the WSLCB board to offer general public comments.