WA Legislature - Update (April 5, 2025)

On Friday legislators passed the first cannabis bill of 2025 and senators planned to hear testimony on legislation authorizing collective bargaining rights for plant-touching workers on Saturday.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Saturday April 5th, the 83rd day of the 2025 regular session.

My top 3 takeaways:

On Friday, senators passed the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) request legislation granting constrained access to patient data housed at the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), the first cannabis-related bill passed by the Legislature in 2025.
- HB 1341 - DOH Patient Data Sharing
  - Representative Sharon Wylie introduced the legislation authorizing limited agency access to DOH patient data.
    - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
  - On January 28th during the public hearing in the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB), WSLCB Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster conveyed a legal interpretation that a statutory change was necessary to authorize the same access to protected DOH patient data as had been granted to the Washington State Department of Revenue (WA DOR) to validate excise tax exempt sales of DOH compliant cannabis products.
    - It’s Cannabis Observer’s understanding that the agency would access patient registry identifiers rather than names, and time periods when registrations were valid. Those values would then be compared to patient identifiers associated with timestamped excise tax exempt retail transactions reported to the WSLCB through the Cannabis Central Reporting System (CCRS) to ensure the legitimacy of sales as well as complete collection of excise tax revenue by the State. Should audits turn up invalid transactions, retailers would remain liable for the production of funds.
  - During the WA House CPB executive session on February 5th, Minority Caucus Vice Chair and Ranking Minority Member Stephanie McClintock first asked if the legislation would enable WSLCB staff access to personally identifiable information (PII) such as patient names, and committee staff confirmed it would not. No amendments to the legislation were presented and members unanimously recommended the bill.
  - As the fiscal note detailed no expected financial impacts, the committee report on February 10th recommended referral to the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) for calendaring.
  - HB 1341 was calendared early in the morning on Sunday March 9th after a marathon House floor session.
  - The legislation was the first bill on the second order of consideration brought before the House on Monday March 10th. No floor amendments were presented. Wylie spoke around the history of the medical and recreational markets, but incorrectly described the legislation as creating a new registry database. McClintock voiced her support for the bill and the legislation was passed 88-5-0-5. One Democrat, Deputy Majority Whip Mari Leavitt, joined a few Republicans voting against the bill.
  - HB 1341 was introduced in the Senate on March 12th.
  - On Friday March 21st, the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) recommended the patient data sharing legislation without a public hearing as the language remained identical to the companion SB 5700 heard on February 10th.
  - The committee report was read on the Senate floor on Monday March 24th and the legislation referred to WA Senate RULE.
  - During the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) meeting on Wednesday March 26th, Majority Caucus Vice Chair Annette Cleveland used her member pull to motion for the advancement of HB 1341 to the Senate second reading calendar. The legislation was calendared in what appeared to be a unanimous voice vote.
  - On Friday, WA Senate LC Chair Rebecca Saldaña and Ranking Member Curtis King offered supportive remarks for the WSLCB request legislation. The bill was passed 48-1 with Senator Leonard Christian upholding his commitment to never vote in support of a cannabis-related bill [ video - TVW ].
  - Following passage, the legislation would be referred to chamber leaders for signature prior to delivery to the Governor’s Office for consideration.

There were no introductions of cannabis-related legislation on Friday, and none staged for Saturday.
- There were no draft introduction reports in the House or the Senate for Saturday April 5th.

On Saturday, adjacent legislation to recoup revenue from a State program helping businesses transition to worker ownership was scheduled for an executive session and the cannabis production unions bill was up for a fiscal committee hearing after bypassing similar consideration in the House.
- 9am: WA House APP - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
  - Executive Session
    - HB 2047 - Rescinding ESOP Transition Support
      - Democrat Representative Adison Richards introduced legislation in the House on March 24th which would eliminate State support for businesses transitioning to employee ownership models such as ESOPs, employee ownership trusts (EOTs), and cooperatives.
        
        See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      - On Thursday April 3rd, Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) members heard testimony entirely opposed to ending the WA Commerce program to recoup a $1.45M biennial operating expense.
      - Legislation co-sponsor and WA House APP Vice Chair Mia Gregerson published amendment VANJ 204 on Thursday afternoon which was described as having the following effects:
        
        “Changes the tax reporting periods in which the business and occupation tax credit for costs related to converting a qualifying business to a worker-owned cooperative, employee ownership trust, or an employee stock ownership plan can be earned and claimed such that:
        
        “(1) Credits can be earned for tax reporting periods starting on or before June 30, 2025, rather than June 30, 2029; and
        
        “(2) Credits cannot be claimed on returns filed for tax periods starting on or after July 1, 2026, rather than July 1, 2030.
        
        “Changes the expiration date for the tax credit from July 1, 2030, to July 1, 2026.”
- 12pm: WA Senate WM - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
  - Public Hearing
    - HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
      - Majority Caucus Chair Lillian Ortiz-Self introduced legislation in the House to establish collective bargaining rights for cannabis “agricultural workers.”
        
        See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      - After passage in the House, the legislation was introduced in the Senate on March 13th.
      - The bill was heard on March 25th in WA Senate LC where supporters and opponents recounted similar and at times identical reasoning as offered during the public hearing in the House in January.
        
        The hearing was punctuated by an unusual exchange between Republican Deputy Leader Drew MacEwen and Black Excellence in Cannabis leaders concerning receipt of a $30K donation from HB 1141 proponent UFCW 3000.
      - On Tuesday April 1st, a proposed amendment by King was not adopted and the legislation was advanced in a strictly partisan vote.
      - On Wednesday April 2nd, the committee report was read and the bill was referred to the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM).
        
        In the House, the legislation was allowed to bypass fiscal committee consideration even though a partial fiscal note was available before the policy committee executive session projecting biennial expenses around $200K.