WSLCB - Board Caucus
(January 24, 2023)

Here are some observations from the Tuesday January 24th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Board members signaled their intention to actively support medical cannabis legislation during the regular session of the Washington State Legislature (audio - 3m, video).
  • Board Chair David Postman indicated that Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn had contacted him about testifying in support of HB 1453, “Providing a tax exemption for medical cannabis patients.” Postman stated, “I think we should.”
    • Board Member Jim Vollendroff indicated his concurrence.
    • At publication time, Nordhorn was signed in to testify PRO on HB 1453 to the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) at 4pm on Tuesday January 24th.
  • Postman then mentioned HB 1563, “Concerning arrest protections for the medical use of cannabis,” which had been introduced that morning. He repeated his “support and so when we actually see that I think that's another one that we should talk about whether we could get on board and support.”
  • Postman concluded, “somebody shared with me recently some comments from board members—like five years ago—that sounded a lot like what we just said about how we need to do more. So yeah, so there's some skepticism and maybe cynicism out there about this. But I really think this is a year where we can make some progress and show that, that we can support the medical consumer in a way that that hopefully helps them.”

• Board Member Jim Vollendroff prompted a lengthy meta-level discussion about the board's approach to legislative strategy and process (audio - 16m, video).
  • Vollendroff began, “I've been through a lot of legislative sessions in my career mostly with King County. And whenever we've put forward legislation, or any time we've testified about a bill, there was a process that we had in place and I just wanted to clarify the LCB, and how do we make sure and demonstrate whether we are in favor of a bill or when we put agency request legislation forward, what does that process look like.”
  • The members discussed de facto processes and policies around putting forward agency request legislation, amending bills, and how leadership delegated and looked to convey agency positions on particular topics.
  • Within the bounds of the vicissitudes of the session, members agreed to ask Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster (whom Postman called the “Rookie of the Year”) to provide updates during WSLCB public meetings to air discussions and decisions around particular topics.

• Although staff encountered new technical difficulties in an alternative space, the board meeting remained scheduled for continuation on Wednesday January 25th.
  • On Wednesday January 18th, agency staff encountered compounding technical difficulties which prevented the board meeting from occurring.