The Week Ahead
(March 24, 2025)

The Week Ahead (March 24, 2025) - Cannabis Flowering - City of Lynnwood - WA Legislature - WSLCB

A busy week was planned for cannabis-related legislation and budgets at the legislature while the City of Lynnwood had fallen behind on an effort to open for retail businesses.

Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.

Monday March 24th

City of Lynnwood - City Council - Business Meeting

On Monday at 6pm PT, the biweekly Lynnwood City Council (City of Lynnwood - City Council) Business Meeting was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • In September 2024, Lynnwood City Council Member George Hurst introduced a motion requesting that the Lynnwood Planning Commission research and offer a recommendation to allow cannabis retail stores to locate within the City by March 31st.  The motion was approved 4-3 and reproduced in the meeting minutes:
    • “Moved by George Hurst that the Lynnwood City Council direct the planning commission to conduct a thorough review of the current zoning limitations and restrictions pertaining to retail cannabis within city limits. The planning Commission is further directed to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations that would amend the city's zoning code and regulations to allow for the establishment of retail cannabis stores in designated zones. These recommendations should assume the end of the current ban on retail cannabis within the city of Lynnwood, and they must be presented to the city council no later than March 31st 2025 for further consideration.”
  • The agenda for the March 24th meeting—the last regular meeting of the council before the self-imposed March 31st deadline—had no indication that a draft recommendation was forthcoming.
  • The Planning Commission cancelled their Thursday March 13th meeting during which they had been scheduled to approve a draft recommendation as well as hear a presentation from WSLCB staff on the social equity program.
  • There was no mention of the subject during the Lynnwood City Council work session on Wednesday March 19th.
  • As the Planning Commission had not approved a draft recommendation yet, presumably commissioners would take up the deferred action item at their next meeting on Thursday March 27th - after the biweekly City Council meeting on Monday.  On Monday, the City Council may address the issue by scheduling a special meeting before the 31st or amending the original motion to grant more time for resolution.

Tuesday March 25th

WA House FIN - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 8am PT, the Washington State House Finance Committee (WA House FIN) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Public Hearing
    • HB 2037 - Out of State Ownership + Social Equity Tax Preference + Cooperatives + Financial Interest
      • Representative Melanie Morgan introduced revenue generating legislation on March 13th—the day after the House of Origin Cutoff—which appeared to be an amalgamation of multiple concepts which largely had not been advanced in 2025.
        • See the bill text for more details.
        • SB 5403 (Cannabis Retail Financial Interest) remained active at publication time.
      • Legislation can be designated “necessary to implement budgets” (NTIB) by chamber leaders to exempt it from the regular rules of order, loosely interpreted to mean a bill was projected to have a measurable fiscal impact.
      • As well, committee leaders sometimes schedule hearings on bills which cannot technically be advanced further during the first half of the legislative biennium to evaluate concepts and prepare members to consider the legislation during the subsequent short session.

WSLCB - Board Caucus

On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.

WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 10:30am PT, the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) was scheduled to convene.

WA HCA - DBHR Listening Session

On Tuesday at 1:30pm PT, the monthly Washington State Health Care Authority (WA HCA) Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) Behavioral Health Service Provider Listening Session was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • According to the announcement, the agenda would include:
    • “DBHR section updates
    • “Legislative decision packages and priorities”

WA House APP - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 4pm PT, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Public Hearing
    • HB 1198 - Operating Budget
      • See the original bill text and bill analysis for more details.
      • On Friday March 21st, the House Democratic Caucus announced the outline of their 2025 operating budget proposal and indicated the proposed substitute bill text would be released on Monday.
        • In late February, the Caucus announced the release of an arguably fearmongering website (“WHAT COULD HAPPEN”) intended to justify a need to raise additional revenue to meet a budget shortfall which had been variously estimated between $8B and $15B.
      • The hearing on Tuesday would be on the proposed substitute language by the Democratic majority which would be made available here.

WA Senate WM - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 4pm PT, the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Public Hearing
    • SB 5167 - Operating Budget
      • See the original bill text and bill report for more details.
      • On Thursday March 20th, the Senate Democratic Caucus announced the outline of their 2025 operating budget proposal and indicated the proposed substitute bill text would be released on Monday at 10am PT in coordination with a media engagement [ TVW ].
      • The hearing on Tuesday would be on the proposed substitute language by the Democratic majority which would be made available here.

Wednesday March 26th

WSLCB - Board Meeting

On Wednesday at 10am PT, the bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Rulemaking Petition
    • Permanent Resident Cards [ Rulemaking Petition ]
      • During his update at the Tuesday March 11th WSLCB Board Caucus, Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn indicated agency staff intended to recommend denying the petition but incorporate the request into the existing Identification Reform rulemaking project (audio < 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
        • The petitioner explicitly asked for the inclusion of “green cards” as acceptable forms of identification in agency rules specific to the cannabis retailers.  Whereas agency staff had previously narrowed the scope of the Identification Reform rulemaking project to “alcohol sales.”
  • CR-103
  • Although agency staff broadcast a message on March 17th asserting the opportunity for in-person and remote General Public Comment would be eliminated on March 26th to favor written comments only, the “Clarifications” sent on March 20th indicated the board meeting “will continue in its current format.”

WA House CPB - Committee Meeting

On Wednesday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB) was scheduled to convene.

Thursday March 27th

WA Pharmacy Commission - Public Meeting

On Thursday at 9am PT, the Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (WA Pharmacy Commission) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Commissioners planned to incorporate their weekly legislative review into their larger business meeting.

WA House APP - Committee Meeting

On Thursday at 4pm PT, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) was scheduled to convene.

WA Senate WM - Committee Meeting

On Thursday at 4pm PT, the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) was scheduled to convene.

City of Lynnwood - Planning Commission - Meeting

On Thursday at 6:30pm PT, the City of Lynnwood Planning Commission (City of Lynnwood - Planning Commission) planned to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Presumably, commissioners would review and approve a draft recommendation to allow cannabis retail businesses within city limits at their Thursday meeting.

Friday March 28th

WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting

On Friday at 8am PT, the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) was scheduled to convene.

WA Pharmacy Commission - Legislative Review

The weekly Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (WA Pharmacy Commission) Legislative Review was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Commissioners cancelled their three prior legislative reviews, but planned to hear an update at their business meeting on Thursday.