USA - Washington

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Four cannabis-related bills were heard or advanced on Thursday whereas four others were more clearly withdrawn from consideration as committee schedules for the following week continued to fill out.

After hearing two cannabis bills on Wednesday, lawmakers had increasingly busy calendars on Thursday and through the following mid-week to meet the next policy committee deadline.

Most lawmakers agreed to pass legislation to address risks associated with use of “high THC” products, with some disagreement around how urgent and restrictive solutions should be.

Commodity commission legislation was passed by Senators before the House of Origin Cutoff which left 12 cannabis-related bills active as policy committees reformed for the shorter second half of session.

A bill from 2023 pertaining to uses of cannabis waste without THC was brought to the Senate floor and passed overwhelmingly following brief remarks from the sponsor.

Representatives passed the WSDA lab accreditation bill and senators positioned the cannabis commission legislation for action among six bills still at risk before the House of Origin Cutoff at 5pm.