WA Legislature - Update (April 1, 2025)

Following two public hearings on Monday and passage of the House operating budget, seven cannabis-related bills were up for executive sessions on Tuesday ahead of the next cutoff.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Tuesday April 1st, the 79th day of the 2025 regular session.

My top 4 takeaways:

On Monday, Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) members continued the hearing on evaluation of the social equity program and heard supportive testimony on a bill seeking to clarify the diminished authority of the WSLCB with regard to testing laboratories.
- HB 1551 - Social Equity Program Evaluation
  - On March 5th, representatives amended and passed the legislation introduced by Representative Kristine Reeves requiring an evaluation of the social equity program without pausing future application windows.
    - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
  - Positions (March 28th): testifying + not testifying = total (duplicates)
    - Pro: 1 + 0 = 1 (0)
      - FMS Global Strategies
    - Con: 4 + 556 = 560 (32)
      - Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC)
      - Family Policy Institute of Washington Action (FPIW Action)
    - Other: 1 + 0 = 1 (0)
      - The Cannabis Alliance
  - Positions (March 31st): testifying + not testifying = total (duplicates)
    - Pro: 0 + 1 = 1 (0)
      - Donald Bambenek (likely in error)
    - Con: 3 + 636 = 639 (22)
      - East Pierce Republican Women’s Club (EPRWC)
      - FPIW Action
      - Republican Women of Whatcom County
      - Snohomish County Republican Party
      - Silverdale Seabeck Republican Women (SSRW)
      - Washington Systematic Policy and Learning Center (WASPLC)
      - Washington State Republican Party (WA GOP)
    - Other: 1 + 0 = 1 (0)
      - The Cannabis Alliance
  - BEC President Peter Manning testified against the legislation, which he characterized as a “Trojan Horse” aligned against the social equity program. Acknowledging the contentious “pause” of all rounds of licensure had been excised from the bill, Manning claimed WSLCB staff told him they still planned to halt the social equity program if HB 1551 were passed into law (audio - 1m, video - TVW).
  - The Cannabis Alliance Executive Director Caitlein Ryan applauded the stated intent of the legislation but contrasted the vocalized position of WSLCB leadership that the program was doing well with facts reported by WSLCB staff indicating less than 25% of apparently successful applicants had secured locations and been awarded a license to operate (audio - 2m, video - TVW).
  - At publication time, an executive session on the legislation was planned for the WA Senate LC meeting on Tuesday April 1st.
- HB 1347 - WSLCB Lab Certification Authority
  - Passed by the House more than a month prior on February 20th, legislation by Reeves would more clearly tie Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) accreditation to Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) certification of private cannabis testing labs while not limiting the latter agency’s subsequent enforcement responsibilities.
    - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
  - Positions: testifying + not testifying = total (no duplicates)
    - Pro: 3 + 2 = 5 (0)
    - Con: 0 + 0 = 0 (0)
    - Other: 0 + 0 = 0 (0)
  - Ryan spoke in favor of the legislation while calling attention to an unfolding “case study”: WSLCB Enforcement and Education staff plowing ahead with a policy reversal suddenly requiring reporting of results from non-mandatory cannabis lab tests (audio - 1m, video - TVW). After expressing interest in an amendment, Chair Rebecca Saldaña noted Ryan had ten minutes to provide language to committee staff before the deadline for submissions (audio < 1m, video - TVW).
    - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the bill.
  - WACA Deputy Director Brooke Davies (audio - 1m, video - TVW) expressed her organization’s support for the bill and Ryan’s amendment.
  - Confidence Analytics Co-Founder and CEO Nick Mosely provided an abridged version of the six year journey towards extracting lab oversight from the scope of WSLCB authority and provided support for the legislation’s goals which he felt could be strengthened through amendment (audio - 1m, video - TVW).
  - At publication time, an executive session on the legislation was planned for the WA Senate LC meeting on Tuesday April 1st.

Also on Monday, representatives introduced the senate version of the operating budget, suspended chamber rules to immediately calendar the bill, struck its text, hosted a floor session to further amend the bill, and passed the revised legislation.
- SB 5167 - Operating Budget and Supplemental Operating Budget
  - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal website for more details.
  - After movement through the Senate the week prior, the operating budgets were introduced in the House on Monday morning and added to the second reading calendar.
  - Later that day, representatives took up the House version of the legislation presented as a striking amendment by Representative Timm Ormsby, the Chair of the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP). Legislators addressed 27 floor amendments, none of which were directly cannabis-related. Early on Tuesday morning, the engrossed legislation was passed 54-44 along largely partisan lines with five democrats voting against passage:
    - Representative Adison Richards
    - Representative Alicia Rule
    - Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore Clyde Shavers
    - Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore Joe Timmons
    - Representative Amy Walen
  - Senators were not expected to accept the House changes and instead call for the formation of a conference committee. Members would be appointed to hash out compromise language and sign a committee report for subsequent vote in both chambers.

There were no introductions of cannabis-related legislation on Monday, and none staged for Tuesday.
- There were no introductions planned in the Senate for Tuesday April 1st.
- The draft introduction report in the House for Tuesday April 1st did not appear to include any cannabis-related legislation although Representative Kristine Reeves presented a variation on her earlier tobacco and vapor product control and taxation bill.

On Tuesday, the primary cannabis policy committees in both the House and Senate were scheduled to host executive sessions on seven bills, four of which had amendments published on Monday night.
- 10:30am: WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
  - Executive Session
    - HB 1066 - WSLCB Data Dashboard
      - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
    - HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
      - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      - Late on Monday night, amendment S-2598.1 by WA Senate LC Ranking Member Curtis King was published and described as having the following effects:
        
        “(1) Specifies that exclusive bargaining representative elections be done by secret ballot.
        
        “(2) Removes the provisions allowing for cross-check to determine the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit.”
    - HB 1347 - WSLCB Lab Certification Authority
      - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
    - HB 1551 - Social Equity Program Evaluation
      - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
  - Tuesday was the last scheduled meeting of WA Senate LC during the 2025 regular session, and the last opportunity to advance bills before the Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff on Wednesday.
- 1:30pm: WA House CPB - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
  - Executive Session
    - SB 5206 - Cannabis Retailer Advertising
      - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      - Late on Monday night, amendment H-2079.3 by WA House CPB Chair Amy Walen was published and described as having the following effects:
        
        “Requires the four authorized cannabis-related advertising signs that are either affixed on the building of the licensed cannabis retailer's location or hanging in the window of the licensed cannabis retailer's location, to all be on the side of the building with the main entrance. Limits the additional trade name signs to a maximum of two trade name signs, instead of providing that the maximum number of trade name signs is to be determined by the city, town, or county in which the licensed cannabis retailer is located. Specifies that one of the two trade name signs may be a double-sided sign, such as a pylon sign or monolith sign. A double-sided sign that contains identical content on each side is considered to be one trade name sign.”
        
        During the WA House CPB public hearing on the legislation on Wednesday March 26th, Walen indicated the compromise amendment between cannabis sector and prevention interests was essential to movement of the bill.
    - SB 5403 - Cannabis Retail Financial Interest
      - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      - Also late on Monday night, amendment CLOD 357 by Representative Kristine Reeves was published and described as having the following effects.
        
        “Adds that the proposed prohibition on retail cannabis licensees entering into certain agreements that confer a financial interest across more than five retail cannabis licenses applies whether or not payment is exchanged. Modifies the proposed definition of a ‘financial interest’ for purposes of the prohibition as follows:
        
        “changes ‘negotiating or coordinating purchases of cannabis products’ to any assistance, coordination, or recommendation for the purchase of cannabis products whereupon pricing is coordinated or discounted;
        
        “adds the common use of intellectual property assets such as branding, trade names, logos, social media accounts, and websites;
        
        “adds any operational support for typical day-to-day business operations, including core business or executive functions of the retail cannabis license;
        
        “changes ‘sharing marketing and advertising costs’ to any sharing or coordination of marketing and advertising efforts or expenses; and
        
        “changes ‘sharing employment and hiring decisions’ to any coordinated sharing of employment or hiring decisions, including the shared employment of individuals.”
    - SB 5758 - Social Equity Buffer Zones
      - See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      - On Wednesday March 26th, the previously planned executive session on the legislation was deferred during the committee meeting without explanation. On Monday March 31st, a second potential executive session on the bill was added to the agenda of the committee meeting on Tuesday.
      - On Monday March 24th, Representative Cindy Ryu published a proposed amendment which would establish a consistent buffer zone measurement process, potentially reshaping the geography of all cannabis retail in Washington state, not just social equity licensed businesses.
      - Further on Monday night Ryu published a second amendment, H-2099.1, which was described as having the following effects:
        
        “Reduces the minimum distance from 1,000 feet to 750 feet between a premises proposed to be licensed as a cannabis producer, processor, retailer, researcher, or transportation licensee and all the facilities identified in statute such as elementary or secondary schools, playgrounds, recreation centers, and other facilities. Prohibits local governments from requiring a greater distance than the 750 feet. Makes an exception to a 1,000 feet restriction to the placement or maintenance of cannabis advertising, in order to allow otherwise permissible signs and advertising when cannabis licensees are lawfully licensed within the 1,000 feet.”
  - WA House CPB was also scheduled to convene on Wednesday April 2nd at 1:30pm, their last opportunity to advance bills before the Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff on Wednesday.