The Week Ahead
(March 29, 2021)

WA Legislature - Cutoff Calendar - Excerpt

As budget activity ramped up, fiscal committees undertook the last week for consideration of most policy legislation - and several cannabis-related bills remained unscheduled at the start.

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

Monday March 29th

On Monday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) planned to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Executive Session: HB 1094 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."

On Monday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) planned to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Executive Session: SB 5092 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."

Tuesday March 30th

On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.

Wednesday March 31st

On Wednesday at 10am PT, the bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was scheduled to recur.

On Wednesday at 9:30am PT, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Hemp Program Webinar on plant services was scheduled to occur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • This is the third of four planned webinars on the WSDA hemp program. See information on the overview webinar hosted on March 17th and the pesticides and organics webinar hosted on March 24th.
  • The USDA Domestic Hemp Production Final Rule went into effect on March 22nd, and the federal agency posted a pre-recorded webinar describing the changes.

Thursday April 1st

At publication time, no cannabis-related events were scheduled.

Friday April 2nd

Friday is the Opposite House Fiscal Committee Cutoff.

2021 Legislative Session

At the Washington State Legislature, the opposite house policy committee cutoff occurred on Friday March 26th. Opposite chamber fiscal committees must hear and exec bills out by Friday April 2nd, the next cutoff date. While a few active cannabis-related bills do not need to be heard by fiscal committees (HB 1105, HB 1210, HB 1443), the ones that do have not been scheduled for public hearings (SB 5004, SB 5372) or remain in rules awaiting review for referral or calendaring.

Cannabis-related Bills - Active (10)

  • NOW TRACKING HB 1094 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."
    • Companion: SB 5092 (active)
    • Previous Step: public hearing in WA House APP on January 14th
    • Last Step: public hearing in WA House APP on March 27th
    • Next Step: executive session in WA House APP on March 29th
  • HB 1105 - “Concerning arrest protections for the medical use of cannabis.”
    • Sponsors (12): Kloba, Simmons, Fitzgibbon, Dolan, Ortiz-Self, Goodman, Vick, Ormsby, Riccelli, Santos, Macri, Davis
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW on Thursday March 4th
    • Last Step: executive session in WA Senate LAW on Thursday March 18th
    • Next Step: calendaring by WA Senate RULE
  • HB 1210 - ‘Replacing the term "marijuana" with the term "cannabis" throughout the Revised Code of Washington.’
    • Sponsors (14): Morgan, Peterson, Kloba, J. Johnson, Ryu, Santos, Ortiz-Self, Ormsby, Simmons, Gregerson, Riccelli, Macri, Frame, Harris-Talley
    • Last Step: executive session in WA Senate LCTA on Wednesday March 24th
    • Next Step: calendaring by WA Senate RULE
  • HB 1443 - "Concerning social equity within the cannabis industry."
    • Sponsors (13): Morgan, Wicks, Simmons, Berry, J. Johnson, Ramel, Kloba, Ryu, Peterson, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Harris-Talley, Macri
    • Companion: SB 5388 (inactive)
    • Previous Step: executive session in WA Senate LCTA on Wednesday March 24th
    • Last Step: calendared by WA Senate RULE on Friday March 26th
    • Next Step: second reading in WA Senate
  • SB 5004 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical marijuana patients.”
    • Sponsors (8): Keiser, Warnick, Conway, Das, King, Kuderer, Saldaña, C. Wilson
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House FIN on Thursday March 25th
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA House APP
  • SB 5092 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."
  • SB 5327 - “Creating a confidential youth safety and well-being tip line.”
    • Sponsors (7): Brown, Frockt, Lovelett, Rivers, Short, Warnick, Wellman
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House CYF on Wednesday March 24th
      • No action taken in WA House CYF on March 17th or March 22nd
    • Next Step: referral or calendaring by WA House RUL
  • SB 5361 - “Concerning the resentencing of persons convicted of drug offenses.”
    • Sponsors (3): McCune, Warnick, J. Wilson
    • Previous Step: public hearing in WA House PS on Tuesday March 23rd
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House PS on Friday March 26th
      • No action was taken in WA House PS on Thursday March 25th
    • Next Step: referral or calendaring by WA House RUL
  • SB 5372 - "Concerning a hemp processor registration process."
    • Sponsors (6): Stanford, Warnick, Conway, Hasegawa, Saldaña, J. Wilson
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House COG on Thursday March 25th
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA House APP
  • NEW SB 5476 - “Addressing the State v. Blake decision.”
    • Sponsors (11): Dhingra, Hasegawa, Hunt, Kuderer, Lovelett, Nguyen, Pedersen, Rivers, Robinson, Saldaña, Wellman
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate WM on Wednesday March 24th
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA Senate WM
      • On Wednesday March 24th, a public hearing for SB 5476 was added to the committee schedule for the following week, then removed the next day.
    • According to the WA Senate WM bill analysis, this bill:
      • Establishes personal use amounts for controlled substances.
      • Removes criminal penalties for the possession of a controlled or counterfeit substance or a legend drug that does not exceed the personal use amount.
      • Authorizes law enforcement to refer individuals possessing a personal use amount of a controlled substance, counterfeit substance, or legend drug to a forensic navigator for the purpose of evaluation and treatment.

Cannabis-related Bills - Inactive (14)

  • HB 1019 - “Allowing residential marijuana agriculture.”
  • HB 1260 - “Concerning the development of the marijuana market.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA House COG on Monday January 18th
  • HB 1345 - “Concerning the regulation of products sold to adults age 21 and over.”
  • HB 1414 - “Aligning marijuana licensing decisions by the liquor and cannabis board with local zoning ordinances.”
  • HB 1463 - “Addressing serious mental health consequences of high-potency cannabis products by regulating the sale of cannabis concentrates.”
  • HB 1499 - “Providing behavioral health system responses to individuals with substance use disorder.”
  • PRESUMED INACTIVE SB 5035 - “Concerning offender scoring of drug offenses.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA House PS on Saturday February 27th
  • SB 5129 - “Concerning the possession of vapor, vapor products, tobacco, and tobacco products by minors.”
  • SB 5266 - “Concerning the regulation of products sold to adults age 21 and over.”
  • SB 5365 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”
  • SB 5388 - “Concerning social equity within the cannabis industry.”
    • Companion: HB 1443 (active)
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LCTA on Friday January 29th
  • PRESUMED INACTIVE SB 5468 - “Concerning knowing possession of a controlled substance.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW on Monday March 1st
  • PRESUMED INACTIVE SB 5471 - “Concerning knowing possession of a controlled substance.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW on Thursday March 4th
  • PRESUMED INACTIVE SB 5475 - “Concerning knowing possession of a controlled substance.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW on Monday March 22nd