WA House - Session - Afternoon
(March 6, 2021)

Here are some observations from the Saturday March 6th Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) afternoon session.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Legislation to change the term ‘marijuana’ to ‘cannabis’ reached the floor for consideration by the full Washington State House of Representatives.
  • On January 22nd, HB 1210 received a public hearing in the Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG). Sponsoring Representative Melanie Morgan testified that use of the term marijuana in government policy was “historically associated with racism” as one way of stigmatizing cannabis use, “a reminder of the history of racism and persecution.”
    • Morgan is the Co-Chair of the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF).
    • Learn about prejudiced enforcement in cannabis criminalization from the December 2020 WA SECTF presentation “History of Racism in Cannabis Policy and Enforcement” and discussion during the group’s January 25th meeting.
  • On January 29th, in a WA House COG executive session, the bill was amended to require expedited change of impacted rules in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB). The amendment additionally mandated that the State treat federal references to ‘marijuana’ as meaning ‘cannabis.’
  • The most recent fiscal note from February 15th projected one time implementation costs in the current biennium:
    • WSLCB: $20,442
    • Washington State Department of Health (DOH): $48,000
  • On March 1st, the bill was placed on the WA House calendar for its second reading as part of a “chamber pull,” a motion on the House floor to relieve the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) of further consideration of the legislation.
  • On March 6th, HB 1210 was included in an order of consideration in the WA House afternoon session. Speaker Pro Tempore Tina Orwall asked for consent to bring the substitute bill language passed by WA House COG to the floor for the bill’s second reading. She heard no objections and staff confirmed that “no amendments” were offered (audio - <1m, video).

• Several lawmakers offered comments on the bill ranging from strong support to concerns that youth may perceive the plant as “less dangerous tomorrow” and terminology changes might be suggested for places in Washington.
  • Assistant Minority Floor Leader Drew MacEwen asked colleagues for a yes vote, arguing the wording was “more acceptable in today's society" while acknowledging there would be opposition from some in his caucus “due to concerns on some other implications” (audio - <1m, video).
  • Representative Shelley Kloba told members that she was speaking on the bill “in place of” Morgan who wasn’t able to connect and offered the view that “words matter and by using the scientific name of the plant, I think we can start to leave behind some of the, the pejorative...racist, really unfortunate and discriminatory history of this particular plant" (audio - 1m, video).
  • Minority Caucus Vice Chair Brad Klippert described his opposition to the bill as “a school resource instructor, and a law enforcement officer, a [Drug Abuse Resistance Education] D.A.R.E. instructor” who had encountered the “destructive results that marijuana has had” on citizens. He spoke of attending “repeated drug court graduations” where people “testified to the harmful effects of marijuana in their lives” and blamed cannabis for having “alienated them from friends and relatives.” As a conservative White police officer, Klippert said he hadn’t found the terminology of the plant as important as regulations around it because “it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison but it’s like...you can call it either a traffic light or a stop light, you need to stop to be safe." He suggested that using the scientific genus name instead of Mexican Spanish slang had a nebulous potential “to convey a message to our youth that cannabis or marijuana is any less dangerous tomorrow than it is today” (audio - 2m, video).
    • Klippert had been a long time opponent of legalized cannabis in Benton County, where he serves as a deputy, and elsewhere.
    • Elected to the legislature in 2008, Klippert sponsored many unsuccessful bills attempting to restrict, audit, or outright re-criminalize cannabis:
      • 2017: HB 1416 - “Increasing the penalty for use of marijuana in public places.”
      • 2017: HB 1625 - “Making the smoking of marijuana in the presence of children unlawful.”
      • 2017: HB 2096 - “Repealing all laws legalizing the use, possession, sale, or production of marijuana and marijuana-related products.”
      • 2017: HB 2238 - “Concerning the licensing of marijuana businesses that are located in close proximity to playgrounds, child care centers, and preschools.”
      • 2018: HB 2960 - “Authorizing local governments to enact ordinances requiring that all marijuana be cultivated indoors in a fully enclosed and secure structure.”
      • 2018: HB 2744 - “Prohibiting marijuana licensees from engaging in activities that can be seen or smelled from public places or nearby properties.”
      • 2018: HB 2484 - “Authorizing local governments to prohibit marijuana licensees within their jurisdictions.”
      • 2019: HB 1466 - “Banning marijuana billboards.”
      • 2019: HB 2076 - “Directing audits of the marijuana traceability system.”
      • 2020: HB 2199 - “Concerning marijuana use in guest rooms of hotels, motels, and inns in violation of the owner or operator's rules.”
    • Klippert announced his intention to run for Congress, saying he’d “decided it was time for me to stand up and step forward.” At publication time, he had run twice for the U.S. Senate, coming in second during the primaries.
    • Learn more about D.A.R.E. by reviewing their Position and Curricula Regarding Marijuana & Legalization and legalization talking points. 
  • Morgan joined to offer remarks, expressing gratitude that the “simple bill in terms of changing language” was heard by members. “It is known historically that people of color” experienced disproportionate enforcement and punishment during the war on drugs, she explained, meaning there was value in use of “the scientific term when we are discussing legislation and when we are passing rules.” Morgan encouraged passage of HB 1210, stating that “enough is enough” (audio - 1m, video).
  • Representative Robert Sutherland told the chamber that he had been “leaning” toward voting yes as he had “no problem whatsoever using proper names for different things but where I’m concerned..is where do we stop with this renaming of, of our history and the verbiage that people are used to? Are we going to rename Seattle next? Are we going to rename Tacoma? Mount Rainier? Are we going to start renaming all the places around our state that we've become accustomed to calling?” Orwall asked that Sutherland speak “to the policy before us,” to which he responded that his comments were about “where does the renaming stop,” adding that he had decided to vote against the legislation (audio - 1m, video).
    • Whereas ‘marijuana’ was formalized into state and federal laws after ‘cannabis’ had been used as the plant’s naturopathic medicine designation, the names of two locations identified by Sutherland are anglicized indigenous words. The City of Tacoma was named after one of Mount Rainier’s former names used by indigenous communities before colonization, while the City of Seattle is named after Chief Si'ahl of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes.
    • The topic of renaming Mount Rainier---as the mountain was first given that name by George Vancouver in honor of his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier---had been raised before, though the last effort to change the name was a bipartisan resolution in 2014 from the WA Senate which temporarily renamed Mount Rainier as ‘Mount Seattle Seahawks’ in honor of Super Bowl XLVIII.

• Despite more than twenty members of the minority caucus opposing passage, a supermajority of the chamber voted to pass the bill, sending it to the Washington State Senate (WA Senate).
  • Orwall moved for a roll call vote on HB 1210 which the House Clerk announced resulted in “77 yeas, 21 nays, zero excused.” The opposing members were all from the minority caucus (audio - 1m, video):
    • Representative Matt Boehnke 
    • Representative Bruce Chandler 
    • Representative Bob Chase
    • Representative Tom Dent 
    • Representative Jeremie Dufault
    • Representative Mary Dye
    • Representative Carolyn Eslick
    • Representative Jenny Graham, Deputy Minority Whip
    • Representative Larry Hoff
    • Representative Mark Klicker
    • Representative Brad Klippert, Minority Caucus Vice Chair
    • Representative Vicki Kraft
    • Representative Joel Kretz, Deputy Minority Leader
    • Representative Jacqulin Maycumber, Minority Floor Leader
    • Representative Bob McCaslin 
    • Representative Gina Mosbrucker, Minority Caucus Vice Chair
    • Representative Joe Schmick
    • Representative Robert Sutherland
    • Representative Mike Volz 
    • Representative Jim Walsh
  • On March 9th, the WA Senate referred the bill to the Washington State Senate Labor, Commerce, and Tribal Affairs Committee (WA Senate LCTA). Under the legislative cutoff calendar, legislation must be given a public hearing and recommended for passage by a policy committee in the opposite chamber no later than March 26th.