WA Legislature - Update
(April 14, 2025)

The final cutoff on Wednesday had begun to limit opportunities for remaining cannabis-related legislation although three bills had been calendared and awaited consideration in the Senate.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Monday April 14th, the 92nd day of the 2025 regular session.

My top 2 takeaways:

• There were no introductions of cannabis-related legislation on Saturday, and none staged for Monday.
  • The draft introduction reports in the House and the Senate for Monday April 14th did not appear to include any cannabis-related legislation.

• On Monday, legislators planned to convene floor sessions in advance of the Opposite House Cutoff on Wednesday; two cannabis-related bills and a gubernatorial appointment confirmation had been calendared in the Senate.
  • 9am: WA House - Session
    • [ TVW - Morning, TVW - Afternoon, TVW - Evening ]
    • At publication time, there were 69 bills on the House floor calendar but no cannabis-related legislation.
    • Chamber leaders pulled one set of legislation from the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) on Friday which did not include one cannabis-related bill awaiting calendaring.
      • SB 5206 - Cannabis Retailer Advertising
        • See the bill text, bill report, and previous fiscal note for more details.
  • 10am: WA Senate - Session
    • [ TVW - Morning, TVW - Afternoon, TVW - Evening ]
    • At publication time, there were 73 bills on the Senate floor calendar including two of relevance.
      • HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
        • See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
        • On Friday evening, amendment S-3019.1 by Senator 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.”
          • The language was identical to amendment S-2598.1 which King suggested in the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) during the executive session on April 1st.  The amendment was not adopted at that time.
      • HB 1551 - Social Equity Program Evaluation
        • See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
        • In the early hours on Friday April 11th, striking amendment S-2845.1 by Senator Rebecca Saldaña was published which appeared to keep the bill largely as written with the addition of the following effect:
          • “Prohibits a city, town, or county from requiring a cannabis retailer licensed through the Cannabis Social Equity Program to locate more than 250 feet from the premises of any other licensed cannabis retailer.”
          • The language was identical to the text of SB 5758 (Social Equity Buffer Zones), a Saldaña bill which was not advanced by the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB) prior to the Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff.
    • At publication time, there were 37 bills on the Senate confirmation calendar including one gubernatorial appointment of interest.
      • SGA 9203 - Confirmation - Pete Holmes
    • At publication time, there were 20 bills on the Senate concurrence calendar and cannabis-related legislation would likely be added after formal receipt of a message from the House about passage.
      • SB 5403 - Cannabis Retail Financial Interest
        • See the bill text, previous bill report, and previous fiscal note for more details.
        • On Friday, the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) amended and passed SB 5403 to clarify the scope of allowable management agreements and would return the legislation to the Senate for a concurrence or dispute vote.
    • Chamber leaders pulled HB 1551 from the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) on Friday but did not include two cannabis-related bills awaiting calendaring.
      • HB 1347 - WSLCB Lab Certification Authority
        • See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      • SGA 9188 - Confirmation - Jim Vollendroff