WSLCB - Board Caucus
(October 27, 2020) - Initial Update

The Board prepared to receive proposed rules for the Location Compliance Certificates rulemaking project, briefly discussed the Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis, and remained uncertain if the agency would host a meeting of the Cannabis Advisory Council (CAC) in 2020.

• Staff presented rulemaking updates:
  • Location Compliance Certificates (Rulemaking Project, audio - 1m). Efforts remained on track to present the CR-102’s proposed rules at the October 28th Board Meeting.
  • Quality Control (QC) Testing and Product Requirements (Rulemaking Project, audio - 2m). Public comment was still being accepted in advance of a public hearing on the supplemental CR-102 on November 18th.
  • Tier 1 Expansion (Rulemaking Project, audio - 1m). A second survey sent to tier 1 producers and active producer and/or processor licensees was set to close on Friday October 30th.
• The first meeting of the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis had been held the day before on October 26th, but Garrett had few specifics ready to share at Chair Jane Rushford’s prompting. She noted the Task Force elected two co-chairs, Representative Melanie Morgan and Washington State Commission on African American Affairs (CAAA) Commissioner Paula Sardinas. The group reviewed themes from the WSLCB social equity engagements and heard new remarks from community voices throughout the call, leading Garrett to believe the engaged “community is more at ease on the task force and what will come out of it” (audio - 4m).
• The WSLCB may host a meeting of the Cannabis Advisory Council (CAC) before year’s end, although Board Member Ollie Garrett stressed that no date had been set. She and Executive Assistant Dustin Dickson intended to review “what that’s going to look like,” including the potential for revised CAC membership (audio - 1m).
  • The CAC was last convened in December 2019.
• Board Member Russ Hauge noted that agency staff were vetting a potential cannabis compact between the state and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. WSLCB staff were deciding “how to best involve the tribes on a continuous basis, including leadership changes among the tribes we’re working with,” he said, and was still a “ways away” from “establishing how we’re going to regularly meet with one another” (audio - 1m).
  • The Board voted to adopt a revised Tribal Consultation Policy on August 18th. 
• WSLCB’s IT division was planning to transition the agency’s virtual meetings to Microsoft Teams in January 2021 after using multiple platforms throughout 2020 (audio - 1m).

Information Set