Planned committee activity for the 2025 regular session would draw to a close on Tuesday as regulators struggled to rescind authority over labs while also expanding reporting requirements.
Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.
Monday April 7th
WA Senate RULE - Committee Meeting
On Monday at 12:30pm PT, the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- According to the announcement, members would have an opportunity to vote on two packages of bills, gubernatorial appointment confirmations and regular legislation selected by committee leadership, in addition to being granted one member pull.
- At publication time, two cannabis-related bills were available for calendaring:
- At publication time, two gubernatorial appointment confirmations were available for calendaring:
Tuesday April 8th
WSLCB - Board Caucus
On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
- According to the agenda, members planned to hear an update on legislative affairs and allocated a substantial amount of time to hear the first public report from the new Policy and Rules Manager, Kevin Walder.
WA Senate WM - Committee Meeting
On Tuesday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- Executive Session
- HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
WA Legislature - Opposite House Fiscal Committee Cutoff
On Tuesday at close of business, the fifth cutoff gateway of the 2025 regular session of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) would occur.
- To continue being advanced, legislation assigned to fiscal committees must be heard, have an executive session scheduled, then be potentially amended, debated, recommended, and reported before the cutoff.
- There are exceptions. 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.
- At publication time, one cannabis-related bill remained at risk:
- HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
- At publication time, four cannabis-related bills awaited calendaring in rules committees:
- At publication time, one cannabis-related bill had been passed by the Legislature and was accruing signatures prior to delivery to the Governor.
- HB 1341 - DOH Patient Data Sharing
- At publication time, the omnibus cannabis bill which may have been designated NTIB appeared to have stalled out after its initial public hearing:
- HB 2037 - Out of State Ownership + Social Equity Tax Preference + Cooperatives + Financial Interest
- After Tuesday, legislators would take up legislation for consideration during floor sessions before the Opposite House Cutoff at 5pm PT on Wednesday April 16th.
Wednesday April 9th
WA House - Session
On Wednesday at 9am PT, the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) was scheduled to convene.
WA Senate - Session
On Wednesday at 10am PT, the Washington State Senate (WA Senate) was scheduled to convene.
WSLCB - Board Meeting
On Wednesday at 10am PT, the bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
- Public Hearing
- Lab Authority Transfer [ Rulemaking Project ]
- An aggressive WSLCB policy shift requiring reporting of non-mandatory cannabis product test results found its way into a contemporaneous rulemaking allegedly undertaken to rescind most agency authority over labs to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).
- The scope of the CR-101 was written broadly under "Reasons why rules on this subject may be needed and what they might accomplish" to specify “Rulemaking would update and clarify LCB's requirements, including laboratory certification and reporting requirements” (emphasis added).
- An update to WAC 314-55-0995 in the proposed rules would add a new requirement in (3)(h) that “Certified laboratories must report all test results directly into LCB's traceability system within 24 hours of completion” (emphasis added).
- Lab Authority Transfer [ Rulemaking Project ]
WSLCB - Executive Management Team
The monthly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting was rescheduled to Wednesday April 23rd.
- [ Event Details ]
Thursday April 10th
WA House - Session
On Thursday at 9am PT, the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) was scheduled to convene.
WA Senate - Session
On Thursday at 9:30am PT, the Washington State Senate (WA Senate) was scheduled to convene.
WIDAC - Council Meeting
On Thursday at 9:30am PT, the Washington State Impaired Driving Advisory Council (WIDAC) was scheduled to convene a quarterly meeting.
- [ Event Details ]
Friday April 11th
WA House - Session
On Friday at 9am PT, the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) was scheduled to convene.
WA Senate - Session
On Friday at 9:30am PT, the Washington State Senate (WA Senate) was scheduled to convene.
WA Pharmacy Commission - Legislative Review
On Friday at 12pm PT, the weekly Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (WA Pharmacy Commission) Legislative Review was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
- At publication time, commissioners had cancelled their last five legislative review meetings, although they were scheduled to receive an update during their regular business meeting on March 27th.
Saturday April 12th
WA House - Session
On Saturday at 9am PT, the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) was scheduled to convene.
WA Senate - Session
On Saturday at 9:30am PT, the Washington State Senate (WA Senate) was potentially scheduled to convene.