The Week Ahead
(August 17, 2020)

WSLCB cancelled their board meeting but would meet in caucus; the Cannabis Science Task Force would convene; and the Sunshine Committee would review public records exemptions.

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

Monday August 17th

On Monday, the staff of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) will be obligated to take an agency-wide furlough day in accordance with a cost-saving directive signed by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee on June 17th.

  • In August through November, the cadence switched from one agency-wide furlough day per week to once per month on third Mondays. The agency’s furlough days are marked on Cannabis Observer’s WSLCB calendar.

On Monday, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was cancelled.

Tuesday August 18th

On Tuesday at 9am PT, the quarterly Washington State Public Records Exemption Accountability Committee (WA Sunshine Committee) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Voters approved the Public Disclosure Act by initiative in 1972 and included 10 exemptions from disclosure at that time. As of February 2020, there were 602 exemptions in the Revised Code of Washington. In 2007, the Attorney General’s Office requested a bill to establish a committee to review all exemptions to the Public Disclosure Act. Senate Bill 5435, which created the Washington State Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee (WA Sunshine Committee), became law on July 22, 2007. The WA Sunshine Committee makes recommendations to the Legislature to repeal or amend exemptions to the Public Records Act.
  • At publication time, current law provided several exemptions from disclosure for cannabis licensee information, none of which were up for review by the Committee:
    • RCW 42.56.270(24): “Financial institution and retirement account information, and building security plan information, supplied to the liquor and cannabis board pursuant to RCW 69.50.325, 69.50.331, 69.50.342, and 69.50.345, when filed by or on behalf of a licensee or prospective licensee for the purpose of obtaining, maintaining, or renewing a license to produce, process, transport, or sell marijuana as allowed under chapter 69.50 RCW;”
    • RCW 42.56.270(25): “Marijuana transport information, vehicle and driver identification data, and account numbers or unique access identifiers issued to private entities for traceability system access, submitted by an individual or business to the liquor and cannabis board under the requirements of RCW 69.50.325, 69.50.331, 69.50.342, and 69.50.345 for the purpose of marijuana product traceability. Disclosure to local, state, and federal officials is not considered public disclosure for purposes of this section;”
    • RCW 69.50.561(6): “All licensees requesting consultative services must be advised of this section and the rules adopted by the board relating to the voluntary compliance program. Valuable formulae or financial or proprietary commercial information records received during a consultative visit or while providing consultative services in accordance with this section are not subject to inspection pursuant to chapter 42.56 RCW.”
  • In August 2019, the WSLCB Board discussed high-profile coverage associating a rash of cannabis robberies with information potentially gleaned via state open records laws. In January, licensee advocates were successful in getting WSLCB to remove producer and processor locations from a map published on the agency website.

On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly WSLCB Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Beyond a presentation from the Licensing division’s compliance specialists on “Frozen Alcohol Popsicles,” the Board planned to consider adopting the “Government-to-Government Consultation, Coordination, and Collaboration Policy” reviewed the prior week.

Wednesday August 19th

On Wednesday at 10am PT, the WSLCB COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Agency staff leadership, Board Chair Jane Rushford, and Assistant Attorney General Bruce Turcott convene multiple times per week via webinar to discuss policy-related questions raised in the context of the pandemic.
  • Originally having met daily every work day, the schedule of meetings was shifted to 3x per week (M, W, F) on June 10th.

The bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Cannabis Observer was not aware of any potential actions projected for this board meeting.
  • In years past, the WSLCB has typically cancelled many public meetings during August’s summer peaks, then returned in September to re-orient towards the spring legislative session. However, 2020 remains quite unlike years past. Rather than developing potential agency request legislation, the WSLCB has been called on to project a 15% budget cut, owed to the Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) by mid-September. If approved by OFM, the executive agency’s projections would be incorporated into the Governor’s budget for suggestion to the Washington State Legislature.

The weekly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The last 27 regularly scheduled EMT meetings have been cancelled. The EMT last convened on Wednesday February 12th.
  • During the July 16th caucus, Board Chair Jane Rushford said “I feel it's important that we bring [EMTs] back.” She expected “we probably won’t do once a week, we don’t need to do that.” Nonetheless, Rushford expressed a need for “meaningful” meetings of WSLCB leadership (audio - 2m).
  • At the August 4th caucus, Rushford said EMT meetings would be renewed in September and run "once a month" through the end of the year (audio - 3m).

Thursday August 20th

On Thursday at 9am PT, the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) Cannabis Science Task Force (CSTF) Steering Committee was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The executive Committee planned to hear presentations from each of the active CSTF work groups on “Proficiency Testing,” “Potency,” and “Heavy Metals.”

Friday August 21st

On Friday at 10am PT, the WSLCB COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was scheduled to recur.