USA - Washington

The first cannabis legislation of the session was passed; two bills in fiscal committees were heard and one was advanced regardless of not being heard; and the “potency tax” study was up for a financial review.

Following the latest cutoff, four more cannabis bills were out of the running leaving eight bills active, four of which would require consideration by fiscal committees before Monday February 26th.

Testimony on cannabis commission legislation showed an industry divided over benefits and costs, plus the committee recommended bills on cannabis waste and THC-based taxation.

Lawmakers rushed to recommend legislation ahead of the cutoff on Wednesday while amending budgets and preparing for fiscal committee work, but four cannabis-related bills would likely not be moved in time.

Lawmakers heard bills on a tax exemption for registered medical patients and transferring lab accreditation, passing the former, then amended and recommended a THC bill without a public hearing.

After undertaking significant activity on cannabis-related bills on Monday, lawmakers lined up executive sessions on a few more bills before the final policy committee deadline on Wednesday.

A pattern of postponed or delayed rulemaking came into focus as staff once again offered revised timelines for projects and petitions going back to the summer of 2022.

11 cannabis-related bills remained subject to the next cutoff on Wednesday but the WSLCB data dashboard bill and inversion/diversion legislation were particularly poorly positioned.

Operating budget proposals began to take shape as policy committees considered legislation ahead of the Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff on Wednesday February 21st.

Four cannabis-related bills were heard or advanced on Thursday whereas four others were more clearly withdrawn from consideration as committee schedules for the following week continued to fill out.