WA Legislature - Update
(March 13, 2025)

WA Legislature - Update (March 13, 2025) - Takeaways

Following the advance of three cannabis bills before the House of Origin Cutoff on Wednesday, new omnibus legislation incorporating concepts from four bills was slated for introduction.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday March 13th, the 60th day of the 2025 regular session.

My top 6 takeaways:

  • On Wednesday afternoon, senators brought up and passed three cannabis-related bills before the House of Origin Cutoff beginning with legislation to clarify restrictions on retail financial agreements.
    • SB 5403 - Cannabis Retail Financial Interest
      • See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      • On Tuesday, Senator Curtis King published amendment S-2261.1 which was described as having the following effects:
        • ‘Changes the title of the bill from "AN ACT Relating to supporting a sustainable cannabis industry" to "AN ACT Relating to limiting financial interest agreements for licensed cannabis retailers."’
      • On Wednesday, the legislation was included in the fifth order of consideration and brought up in the mid-afternoon.  With the support of prime sponsor Senator Rebecca Saldaña, King’s amendment was incorporated into the legislation, greatly narrowing the scope of the bill to the subject matter of the bill text.  Saldaña then spoke at length to the rewrite of the bill and her intention to keep the regulated market restrained to ownership by Washington residents and curb workarounds to the five retail store limit as intended and defined by the Legislature (audio - 3m, video - TVW).  King also spoke in support of the legislation which was passed 41-7-0-1 with one Democrat joining Republicans voting against the legislation.
  • Finally, senators adopted and passed the substitute version of the social equity buffer zones legislation.
    • SB 5758 - Social Equity Buffer Zones
      • See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      • Immediately after the passage of SB 5206, no amendments were presented on the substitute language recommended by WA Senate LC.  Saldaña described the social equity program and the bill’s intent to address the difficulties many first round applicants encountered securing compliant locations (audio - 3m, video - TVW).  King followed up to offer his measured endorsement out of appreciation for Saldaña’s collaboration to remove a more contentious provision in committee (audio - 1m, video - TVW).  Christian then rose to once again exclaim his opposition to all cannabis legislation, especially the provision that had been removed in committee (audio - 1m, video - TVW), prompting admonishment from Senate President Denny Heck (audio < 1m, video - TVW) and clarification by King (audio - 1m, video - TVW).  The legislation was passed along strictly partisan lines 31-17-0-1 with the exception of two Republicans who voted for passage.
  • Sparse preliminary schedules for the following week in the House and the Senate were published on Wednesday afternoon reflecting the great number of bills in transition between the chambers.
    • Friday March 21st
      • 8am: WA House CPB - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Work Session
          • “Emerging Issues in Consumer Protection”
      • 8am: WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Executive Session
          • HB 1341 - DOH Patient Data Sharing
          • SGA 9188 - Confirmation - Jim Vollendroff
          • SGA 9203 - Confirmation - Pete Holmes
  • On Wednesday, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) request legislation passed by the House on Monday was introduced in the Senate, and two cannabis-related bills were staged for introduction on Thursday including new omnibus legislation in the House by Representative Melanie Morgan.
    • On Wednesday March 12th, senators introduced the House version of the WSLCB request legislation seeking access to deidentified patient data secured by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
      • HB 1341 - DOH Patient Data Sharing
        • See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
        • The legislation was referred to the WA Senate LC.
        • At publication time, an executive session was scheduled for Friday March 21st indicating the likely intent of committee leadership to advance the bill without a public hearing as the language remained identical to the companion SB 5700 heard on February 10th.
    • The draft introduction report in the Senate for Thursday March 13th included the cannabis “agricultural worker” unionization legislation passed by the House on Tuesday March 11th.
      • HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
        • See the bill report and fiscal note for more details.
        • The legislation was slated for referral to WA Senate LC.
    • The draft introduction report in the House for Thursday March 13th included a new, potentially revenue-generating bill which appeared to be an amalgamation of multiple concepts which had not been advanced with the exception of language from SB 5403 (Cannabis Retail Financial Interest).
      • HB 2037 - Out of State Ownership + Social Equity Tax Preference + Cooperatives + Financial Interest
        • See the bill text for more details.
        • The legislation was slated for referral to the Washington State House Finance Committee (WA House FIN).
        • HB 1346 (Out of State Ownership) was introduced by Representative David Hackney who shortly thereafter became unable to participate in the legislative session.  That legislation was heard but not granted an executive session by leadership of the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB) before the House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff on February 21st.
        • As HB 1346 foundered, Morgan introduced HB 1940 (Out of State Ownership + Social Equity Tax Preference) on February 11th and advanced the legislation out of WA House CPB.  That bill was referred to WA House FIN, but not granted a public hearing prior to that committee’s last meeting on Wednesday February 26th before the House of Origin Fiscal Committee Cutoff on February 28th.
        • During the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting on Wednesday February 26th, Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster claimed HB 1940 was a source of “consternation” for legislators and indicated he would be joined by Director Will Lukela for a meeting with Morgan as well as “the supporters and the detractors, just getting everybody in a room, not long after this meeting” (audio - 2m, video - TVW).
          • WSLCB board members voted on Wednesday to grant Chair Jim Vollendroff authority to close EMT meetings to the public among other steps framed as “board efficiencies.”
        • As written, HB 2037 would modestly increase the WSLCB fee for licensing out of state businesses, providing a measurable source of new state revenue which chamber leaders may deem sufficient to designate the bill “necessary to implement budgets” (NTIB) to enable movement outside of the regular rules of order of the Washington State Legislature.
  • On Thursday following the House of Origin Cutoff, no cannabis-related policymaking events were planned at the Washington State Legislature.