The Week Ahead
(March 14, 2022)

Three cannabis-related bills were passed by the legislature in 2022—out of 31 introduced—yet WSLCB and social equity task force work continued nonetheless.

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

Monday March 14th

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

Tuesday March 15th

WSLCB - Board Caucus

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

• [ Event Details ]

Wednesday March 16th

WSLCB - Board Meeting

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

• [ Event Details ]
• At publication time, there were no cannabis-related items on the agenda.

Thursday March 17th

WA SECTF - Work Group - Licensing - Public Meeting

On Thursday, the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis Licensing Work Group (WA SECTF - Work Group - Licensing) was scheduled to convene.

• [ Event Details ]
• Task force staff were determining the start time of this and future licensing work group events in part through a survey which would be open until 9am on Monday.
• On Thursday, Bailey Hirschburg of Cannabis Observer was scheduled to present research on social consumption venues around the country.

Friday March 18th

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

2022 WA Legislative Session

The short session of the 2021-22 biennium began on January 10th and ended on March 10th.

• Inactive cannabis-related bills from 2021 were renewed in their house of origin and the House and Senate convened public hearings during the first three weeks of the short session.
• February 3rd was the first deadline for bills to be recommended out of their house of origin policy committees, followed shortly by a second deadline on February 7th for house of origin fiscal committees to complete their initial work. Legislators and staff heard, amended, and pushed legislation through in advance of the third deadline for (most!) bills to be passed out of their chamber of origin on February 15th at 5pm PT.
• At the turning point, policy committees took up remaining bills ahead of the February 24th opposite house policy committee cutoff. Fiscal committees began to work budgets before having to move bills over the weekend in advance of the Monday February 28th opposite house fiscal committee cutoff. And Friday March 4th at 5pm PT occasioned the sixth deadline for (most!) bills to be passed by the opposite chamber.
• In the final week of the short session, legislators devoted the majority of their time to floor debate and negotiation between the chambers. However, some time was spent in last-minute committee hearings and executive sessions to move bills. Sine die, the last day of session, occurred on Thursday March 10th.
• Washington State Governor Jay Inslee took formal action on very few bills during the session. For legislation received by his office within five days of the end of session, he could sign or partially veto it before it becomes law, or veto it altogether, within 20 days following the end of session.

Cannabis-Related Law (1)

HB 1210 - “Replacing the term ‘marijuana’ with the term ‘cannabis’ throughout the Revised Code of Washington.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 🌱⚖️ ‘marijuana’ to ‘cannabis’
• Sponsors (14): Melanie Morgan, et al
• Previous Step: second and third reading in WA Senate (Mar 1)
• Previous Step: signed by Speaker of WA House (Mar 2)
• Previous Step: signed by President of WA Senate (Mar 2)
• Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 7)
• Last Step: signed by WA Governor (Mar 11)
• Effective: July 1st

Budget-Related Legislation - Passed Legislature (1)

SB 5693 - “Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 💸 Operating Budget Changes; where the money goes
• Sponsors (3): Christine Rolfes, Linda Wilson, et al
• Companion: HB 1816 (divergent)
• Previous Step: second and third reading in WA Senate (Feb 25)
  • To our knowledge, no cannabis-related floor amendments were added to the bill.
• Previous Step: introduction, first reading, second reading, and third reading in WA House (Feb 26)
  • Amendment H-2877.1 by WA House COG Vice Chair Emily Wicks was adopted, providing $500K “for the LCB, in consultation with the Office of Equity and community organizations, to select a third-party contractor to prioritize applicants for cannabis licenses in an existing cannabis social equity program. Requires the LCB to review applications based on the priority set by the third-party contractor. Requires the third-party contractor to prioritize applicants based on a scoring rubric that is developed by the LCB with input from the Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force and approved by the Office of Equity.”
• Previous Step: concurrence vote in WA Senate and request for conference (Mar 8)
• Previous Step: conference committee report signed (Mar 9)
• Previous Step: conference committee report adopted by WA House (Mar 10)
• Previous Step: conference committee report adopted by WA Senate (Mar 10)
• Previous Step: signed by President of WA Senate (Mar 10)
• Previous Step: signed by Speaker of WA House (Mar 10)
• Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 11)
• Next Step: bill action by WA Governor

Cannabis-Related Legislation - Passed Legislature (2)

HB 1859 - “Concerning quality standards for laboratories conducting cannabis analysis.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 🔬 Cannabis Testing Labs; WSDA/WSLCB request legislation to shift regulation of labs to the department of agriculture; creation of Interagency Coordination Team (ICT) w/ department of health (DOH)
• Requested By: WSDA, WSLCB
• Sponsors (4): Shelley Kloba, Kelly Chambers, et al
• Companion: SB 5699 (inactive)
• Previous Step: executive session in WA Senate WM (Feb 28)
• Previous Step: WA Senate RULE package pull to WA Senate floor calendar (Mar 3)
• Previous Step: second and third reading in WA Senate (Mar 4)
• Previous Step: concurrence vote in WA House (Mar 8)
• Previous Step: signed by Speaker of WA House (Mar 9)
• Previous Step: signed by President of WA Senate (Mar 10)
• Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 10)
• Next Step: bill action by WA Governor

SB 5796 - “Restructuring cannabis revenue appropriations.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 💸 Revision of Cannabis Tax Revenue Appropriations; where the money goes
• Sponsors (5): Rebecca Saldaña, et al
• Previous Step: public hearing in WA House APP (Feb 22)
• Previous Step: executive session in WA House APP (Feb 28)
• Previous Step: chamber pull from WA House RUL to WA House floor calendar (Mar 2)
• Previous Step: second and third reading in WA House (Mar 4)
• Previous Step: concurrence vote in WA Senate (Mar 7)
• Previous Step: signed by President of WA Senate (Mar 9)
• Previous Step: signed by Speaker of WA House (Mar 10)
• Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 11)
• Next Step: bill action by WA Governor

Cannabis-Related Legislation - Failed - Sine Die (5)

HB 1827 - “Creating the community reinvestment account and community reinvestment program.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 💰⚖️ Community Reinvestment; directing cannabis revenue collected by the state towards addressing harms of the American drug wars and the generational economic implications thereof
• Requested By: WA Governor
• Sponsors (5): Melanie Morgan, et al
• Companion: SB 5706 (inactive)
• Last Step: WA Senate RULE pull to WA Senate floor calendar (Mar 4)
• While Cannabis Observer presumed that the $125M annual appropriation envisioned in this Governor request legislation could qualify this bill as “necessary to implement budgets” (NTIB) thereby providing legislative leadership with the means to exempt the bill from the normal cutoff calendar deadlines, the bill was not subsequently addressed directly.
• Instead, a version of HB 1827 was inserted into the supplemental operating budget bill, SB 5693 - and the appropriation was increased from $125M to $200M. For details, see the bill text as passed by the legislature in section 128 (WA Commerce), item 134 on page 108. See also section 947 (p. 811) where the Community Reinvestment Account is created.

HB 2122 - “Concerning cannabinoid products.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚗️ Cannabinoid Regulation; a vehicle to determine the future of synthesized cannabinoids in Washington state
• Sponsors (5): Shelley Kloba, et al
• Last Step: pro forma introduction and referral to WA House APP (Feb 21)

HB 2123 - “Concerning cannabinoid products.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚗️ Cannabinoid Regulation; a different, slower vehicle to determine the future of synthesized cannabinoids in Washington state
• Sponsors (7): MacEwen, Springer, et al
• Companion: SB 5981 (identical)
• Last Step: pro forma introduction and referral to WA House APP (Feb 22)

SB 5981 - “Concerning cannabinoid products.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚗️ Cannabinoid Regulation; a different, slower vehicle to determine the future of synthesized cannabinoids in Washington state
• Sponsors (2): Stanford, Rivers
• Companion: HB 2123 (identical)
• Last Step: pro forma introduction and referral to WA Senate LCTA (Feb 24)
• While SB 5981 was not taken up directly by legislators in 2022, legislators replaced SB 5983 with a slight revision of the bill text very late in the session.

SB 5983 - “Concerning untested and unregulated cannabinoid products.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚗️ Cannabinoid Regulation; a new vehicle to determine the future of synthesized cannabinoids in Washington state
• Sponsors (1): Keiser, Schoesler
• Previous Step: pro forma introduction and referral to WA Senate WM (Feb 28)
• Previous Step: public hearing in WA Senate WM (Mar 5)
• Previous Step: executive session in WA Senate WM (Mar 7)
• Last Step: WA Senate RULE pull to WA Senate floor calendar (Mar 8)
• SB 5983 was the third and final attempt by particular legislators to pass some version of the WSLCB request legislation on cannabinoid regulation which began the session as HB 1668 by Representative Shelley Kloba. After that legislation failed to be passed prior to the house of origin cutoff, it was reintroduced by Kloba as HB 2122 with new revenue generating provisions intended to justify its designation as NTIB. After house leadership declined to pick the bill up, the language was adapted by Senator Karen Keiser into SB 5983. Senate leadership was convinced to grant the bill a public hearing, executive session, and pull the bill out of rules - but the legislation was halted from further progress once it was moved to the senate floor.
• This outside view of the publicly visible maneuvering of SB 5983 does little to elucidate the significance of the failure of this bill.
  • Proponents warned that the easy availability of untested, impairing products in unregulated retail markets constituted public health and public safety threats.
  • Cannabinoid synthesis was not addressed by legislators, nor the prevalence of “impairing” cannabinoids beyond delta-9-THC.
  • WSLCB cannabis authority remains unchanged, and enforcement actions outside the regulated cannabis marketplace remain unfunded and unlikely.
• Perhaps most importantly, the acrimony of the proceedings around the eight separate legislative vehicles introduced throughout the session to more or less address these issues may have led to more than an impasse. Trust was damaged. Relationships were harmed. Social capital was burned and reputations clarified. While the cannabis sector as a whole may have been further marginalized and discredited, the leadership and representation of the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) may find that they have doomed more than a bill.

Cannabis-Related Legislation - Failed - Opposite House Cutoff (3)

HB 1105 - “Concerning arrest protections for the medical use of cannabis.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚕️⚖️ Arrest Protections for All Medical Cannabis Patients; not just those voluntarily registered with the state
• Sponsors (12): Shelley Kloba, et al
• Last Step: executive session in WA Senate LAW (Feb 17)

SB 5004 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical marijuana patients.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚕️💰 Excise Tax Exemption for Registered Medical Cannabis Patients; only those voluntarily registered with the state purchasing DOH-compliant products
• Sponsors (8): Karen Keiser, et al
• Last Step: chamber pull to WA House floor calendar (Mar 2)

SB 5927 - “Concerning the safety and security of retail cannabis outlets.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 💣 SB 5927 - Retail Robberies; reporting requirements and sentencing enhancements
• Sponsor (2): Jim Honeyford, et al
• Companion: HB 2029 (inactive)
• Last Step: executive session in WA House PS (Feb 22)

Cannabis-Related Legislation - Failed - House of Origin Cutoff (4)

HB 1668 - “Expanding regulatory authority over cannabinoids that may be impairing and providing for enhanced product safety and consumer information disclosure about marijuana products.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚗️ WSLCB Cannabinoid Regulation; once the vehicle to determine the future of synthesized cannabinoids in Washington state
• Requested By: WSLCB
• Sponsors (3): Shelley Kloba, Sharon Wylie, et al
• Companion: SB 5547 (inactive)
• Last Step: chamber pull to WA House floor calendar (Feb 11)

HB 2022 - “Concerning social equity in the cannabis industry.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚖️ Social Equity; significant structuring of the future of licensure, market dynamics, the inextricable connection of cannabis policy with troubling dimensions of the American drug wars
• Sponsors (13): Emily Wicks, Jesse Johnson, et al
• Previous Step: executive session in WA House APP (Feb 7) and referral to WA House RUL

SB 5699 - “Concerning quality standards for laboratories conducting cannabis analysis.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 🔬 Cannabis Testing Labs; WSDA/WSLCB request legislation to shift regulation of labs to the department of agriculture; creation of Interagency Coordination Team (ICT) w/ department of health (DOH)
• Requested By: WSDA, WSLCB
• Sponsors (2): Steve Conway, Derek Stanford
• Companion: HB 1859 (divergent)
• Last Step: executive session in WA Senate WM (Feb 7) and referral to WA Senate RULE

SB 5951 - “Concerning agricultural hemp products to ensure the safe implementation of Washington state's industrial hemp program.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 💊 CBD Truth-in-Labeling; w/out WACA cannabinoid definitions
• Sponsors (2): Bob Hasegawa, et al
• Last Step: executive session in WA Senate AWNP (Feb 3) and referral to WA Senate RULE

Cannabis-Related Legislation - Failed - House of Origin Fiscal Committee Cutoff (3)

HB 1019 - “Allowing residential marijuana agriculture.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 🌱 Homegrow
• Sponsors (16): Shelley Kloba, et al
• Last Step: public hearing in WA House APP (Feb 9, 2021) and referral to WA House APP

HB 1710 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (4): Sharon Shewmake, et al
• Last Step: executive session in WA House COG (Jan 20) and referral to WA House APP

SB 5706 - “Creating the community reinvestment account and community reinvestment program.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 💰⚖️ Community Reinvestment; directing cannabis revenue collected by the state towards addressing harms of the American drug wars and the generational economic implications thereof
• Requested By: WA Governor
• Sponsors (6): Rebecca Saldaña, et al
• Companion: HB 1827 (active)
• Last Step: executive session in WA Senate LCTA (Jan 26) and referral to WA Senate WM

Cannabis-Related Legislation - Failed - House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff (11)

HB 1414 - “Aligning marijuana licensing decisions by the liquor and cannabis board with local zoning ordinances.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (2): Keith Goehner, Kelly Chambers
• Last Step: public hearing in WA House COG (Feb 2, 2021)

HB 1463 - “Addressing serious mental health consequences of high-potency cannabis products by regulating the sale of cannabis concentrates.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (11): Lauren Davis, et al
• Previous Step: public hearing in WA House COG (Feb 12, 2021)
• Not moved in 2022

HB 1667 - “Concerning ownership of cannabis-related businesses.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors: Sharon Wylie
• Previous Step: pro forma introduction and assignment to WA House COG (Jan 10)
• Last Step: public hearing in WA House COG (Feb 1)

HB 1855 - “Concerning a craft cannabis endorsement.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (5): Emily Wicks, Laurie Dolan, et al
• Last Step: cancelled executive session in WA House COG (Feb 3)

HB 1933 - “Authorizing smaller local governments with a scarcity of manufacturing and industrial lands to establish a tax on cannabis producers and processors.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (3): Emily Wicks, Carolyn Eslick, et al
• Last Step: public hearing in WA House FIN (Jan 25)

HB 2029 - “Concerning the safety and security of retail cannabis outlets.”

• [ Legislation ]
• 💣 Retail Robberies; reporting requirements and sentencing enhancements
• Sponsors (3): Kelly Chambers, Eric Robertson, et al
• Companion: SB 5927 (active)
• Last Step: pro forma introduction and assignment to WA House PS (Jan 18)

HB 2035 - “Establishing a behavioral health prevention and equity impact framework for the Washington state liquor and cannabis board.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (13): Lauren Davis, Javier Valdez, et al
• Last Step: public hearing in WA House COG (Jan 25)

SB 5517 - “Concerning employment of individuals who lawfully consume cannabis.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (11): Karen Keiser, Rebecca Saldaña, et al
• Last Step: cancelled executive session in WA Senate LCTA (Jan 26)

SB 5547 - “Expanding regulatory authority over cannabinoids that may be impairing and providing for enhanced product safety and consumer information disclosure about marijuana products.”

• [ Legislation ]
• ⚗️ WSLCB Cannabinoid Regulation; companion HB 1668 became the vehicle to determine the future of synthesized cannabinoids in Washington state
• Requested By: WSLCB
• Sponsors (6): Karen Keiser, Mark Schoesler, et al
• Companion: HB 1668 (inactive)
• Last Step: cancelled executive session in WA Senate LCTA (Feb 2)

SB 5671 - “Modifying the composition of the Washington state liquor and cannabis board.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (5): Derek Stanford, Ann Rivers, et al
• Last Step: public hearing in WA Senate LCTA (Jan 19)

SB 5767 - “Regulating hemp-derived cannabinoids.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (3): Derek Stanford, Ann Rivers, et al
• Last Step: public hearing in WA Senate LCTA (Jan 20)

Cannabis-Related Legislation - Failed - Superseded (2)

HB 1260 - “Concerning the development of the marijuana market.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (11): Emily Wicks, et al
• Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA House COG (Jan 18, 2021)
• Subsumed by HB 1855

SB 5365 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”

• [ Legislation ]
• Sponsors (5): Derek Stanford, et al
• Last Step: public hearing in WA Senate LCTA (Feb 1, 2021)
• Subsumed by HB 1710