The Week Ahead
(April 12, 2021)

Hemp - Forage Harvester

The hemp processor bill was headed to the Governor’s desk, likely followed by some version of the social equity bill, while rulemaking and interim work at WSLCB was ramping up.

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

Monday April 12th

On Monday at 9am PT, the Chelan County Board of County Commissioners planned to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The agenda for the event included a public hearing at 10:05am on ‘Creating Chapter 7.34 of the Chelan County Code titled “Controlled Substances” Banning Knowing Possession of Unlawful Controlled Substances’, an example of a local jurisdiction pre-empting the Washington State Supreme Court decision in the Washington State v. Shannon Blake case which found the State statute criminalizing drug possession unconstitutional.
  • During the public hearing for SB 5476 (“Addressing the State v. Blake decision”), Washington Defenders Association Director Lisa Daugaard predicted that “many if not most local jurisdictions will pass their own ordinances criminalizing drug possession” and indicated “compelling legal analysis” suggested “they legally can do so.” She expected that possession of drug paraphernalia “will be a proxy for possession across the state” without the passage of SB 5476.
  • At publication time, the document and record search interface on the Chelan County Commissioners website intended to make meeting materials accessible to the public was not functional using Chrome or Safari web browsers. Therefore, we’re unable to access or provide the proposed text of the new chapter in the Chelan County Code which the Commissioners are obligated to hear from the public on.
    • Not all jurisdictions are able, or willing, to provide transparency into their proceedings beyond their interpretation of the requirements of the Washington State Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act. Technical difficulties also happen. For these reasons, Cannabis Observer archives copies of all documents we encounter or generate as “Information,” generally accessible through [ Info ] links.
    • The Chelan County Commissioners also overwrite the URL with their published agenda every week. You can find this week’s version archived here.

Tuesday April 13th

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

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The Board planned to prepare for rulemaking at Wednesday’s Board Meeting and hear agency updates.

On Tuesday at 4pm PT, the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF) Disproportionately Impacted Communities Work Group was scheduled to convene.

Wednesday April 14th

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

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The Policy and Rules team planned to introduce a new CR-101 to centralize “Summary License Suspension and Petition for Stay” provisions in a new chapter applicable to all licensees.

On Wednesday at 1:30pm PT, the three-member Board and agency leadership were scheduled to convene their monthly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • During David Postman’s first EMT meeting as Chair, agency staff leadership planned to provide updates while interacting directly and publicly with the Board.

Thursday April 15th

At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking activities scheduled.

Friday April 16th

At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking activities scheduled.

2021 Legislative Session

At the Washington State Legislature, the opposite house cutoff occurred on Sunday April 11th, the deadline for each chamber to read, potentially amend, and vote out bills from the opposite chamber. Legislators have two weeks to complete their work prior to the end of the regular session on Sunday April 25th.

Cannabis-related Bills - Active (7)

  • HB 1094 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."
    • Companion: SB 5092 (active)
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House APP on March 29th
    • Next Step: calendaring by WA House RUL
  • 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: calendaring by WA Senate RULE on Saturday April 10th
    • Next Step: second reading in WA Senate
      • While HB 1210 was calendared on Saturday prior to the opposite house cutoff on Sunday, the bill was not moved. However, the fiscal note associated with the bill exceeds $50K and the latest version of the operating budget includes those appropriations, so we aren’t regarding this bill as inactive quite yet.
  • 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)
    • Last Step: second and third reading in WA Senate on Tuesday April 6th
    • Next Step: concurrence vote in WA House, possibly a conference committee
  • SB 5092 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."
    • Companion: HB 1094 (active)
    • Last Step: second and third reading in WA House on Saturday April 3rd
    • Next Step: concurrence vote in WA Senate, possibly a conference committee
  • SB 5361 - “Concerning the resentencing of persons convicted of drug offenses.”
    • Sponsors (3): McCune, Warnick, J. Wilson
    • Previous Step: calendared by chamber pull on Monday April 5th
    • Last Step: passed by WA House on Thursday April 8th
    • Next Step: concurrence vote in WA Senate, possibly a conference committee
  • SB 5372 - "Concerning a hemp processor registration process."
    • Sponsors (6): Stanford, Warnick, Conway, Hasegawa, Saldaña, J. Wilson
    • Previous Step: calendared by chamber pull on Friday April 2nd
    • Previous Step: second and third reading in WA House on Tuesday April 6th
    • Previous Step: President of the Senate signed on Thursday April 8th
    • Last Step: Speaker of the House signed on Friday April 9th
    • Next Step: delivery to WA Governor for bill action
  • SB 5476 - “Addressing the State v. Blake decision.”
    • Sponsors (11): Dhingra, Hasegawa, Hunt, Kuderer, Lovelett, Nguyen, Pedersen, Rivers, Robinson, Saldaña, Wellman
    • Previous Step: public hearing in WA Senate WM on Monday April 5th
    • Last Step: executive session in WA Senate WM on Saturday April 10th
      • At publication time, we had not reviewed the livestream of this committee meeting to confirm what transpired, but the secondary indicators are unusual. On the meeting materials page, all of the amendments to the bill were marked “NOT CONSIDERED”. However, members voted on the bill and moved it out of committee - but without recommendation. Several other items on the committee agenda for Saturday were pushed until Monday.
    • Next Step: calendaring by WA Senate RULE

Cannabis-related Bills - Inactive (17)

  • HB 1019 - “Allowing residential marijuana agriculture.”
  • PRESUMED INACTIVE HB 1105 - “Concerning arrest protections for the medical use of cannabis.”
  • 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.”
  • SB 5004 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical marijuana patients.”
  • 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.”
  • PRESUMED INACTIVE 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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