The social equity bill hearing would be continued on Thursday morning, three new cannabis-specific bills were lined up, and interstate commerce appeared ready to be moved.
Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for January 12th, the 4th day of the 2023 Regular Session.
My top 3 takeaways:
- The Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) planned to continue the hearing on SB 5080, “Expanding and improving the social equity in cannabis program,” on Thursday morning at 8am PT [ Event Details ].
- Committee members heard in-person testimony during an abbreviated hearing on Tuesday January 10th.
- Eight new co-sponsors for SB 5080 (Conway, Frame, Hasegawa, Kuderer, Lovelett, Nguyen, Nobles, Stanford) were published late Tuesday, bringing the total to nine including prime sponsor Senator Rebecca Saldaña.
- One new cannabis-specific bill had been introduced since the beginning of the week - and a pair of companion bills were scheduled for introduction on Thursday.
- SB 5259, “Ensuring commerce and workplaces are safe from product theft,” was introduced by Senator Karen Keiser on Wednesday to address retail theft, including specific provisions for licensed cannabis businesses.
- HB 1249 and SB 5340, companion bills “Regarding limits on the sale and possession of retail cannabis products,” were scheduled for introduction on Thursday by Representative Chris Corry and Senator Curtis King. These bills would create a new class of low dose beverage allowing for possession of “Two hundred milligrams of THC within a cannabis-infused product in liquid form if the product is packaged in individual units containing no more than four milligrams of THC per unit.”
- HB 1159, “Allowing interstate cannabis agreements,” earned the distinction of becoming the first cannabis-specific bill scheduled for executive session in 2023.
- After hearing the bill on Tuesday January 10th, the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) was scheduled to take up the legislation for potential modification and recommendation out of committee on Monday January 16th.
- On Tuesday, committee members also heard HB 1083, "Concerning terms of payment for cannabis retailers," a bill which aimed to add flexibility to when retailers could pay for cannabis deliveries which was popular with most people testifying, but two speakers felt the change would end up being unfair to suppliers.
- After hearing the bill on Tuesday January 10th, the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) was scheduled to take up the legislation for potential modification and recommendation out of committee on Monday January 16th.