And then there were seven; three cannabis bills were passed hours prior to the final cutoff gateway as legislators turned to concurrence votes, disputes, and conference committee work.
Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday April 13th, the 95th day of the 2023 Regular Session.
My top 2 takeaways:
- Washington State legislators passed three cannabis bills on Wednesday April 12th ahead of the opposite house cutoff gateway; three others did not make the cut.
- HB 1772 - “Prohibiting products that combine alcohol and tetrahydrocannabinol.”
- On Wednesday towards the end of their morning session, Senators passed legislation that would more clearly ban cannabis infused alcohol products. The bill was unanimously passed unchanged from its original text and would await signatures from chamber leaders before delivery to the Washington State Governor.
- HB 1563 - “Concerning arrest protections for the medical use of cannabis.”
- Towards the end of the day, Senators took up and passed legislation that would extend equal protection from unlawful arrest to all authorized medical cannabis patients, not just those who opted in to registration with the State. The legislation was passed 37-12 with Republican Senators Boehnke, Braun, Fortunato, Gildon, Hawkins, McCune, Padden, Rivers, Schoesler, Wagoner, Warnick, and Linda Wilson voting against the measure. As the legislation was passed unchanged from its form as originally introduced, it would await signatures from chamber leaders before delivery to the Governor.
- SB 5069 - “Allowing interstate cannabis agreements.”
- Also on Wednesday, House leadership brought the interstate commerce trigger bill up for a vote in the late morning. A floor amendment by Representative Sharon Wylie was adopted which corrected a statutory reference before officials registered a 71-26-0-1 mixed vote to pass the legislation.
- Notably, only two Democrats voted against the bill: Representatives Lauren Davis and Mari Leavitt.
- 16 Republicans voted for the legislation.
- As the bill was modified in the House, it would require a concurrence vote in the Senate.
- Also on Wednesday, House leadership brought the interstate commerce trigger bill up for a vote in the late morning. A floor amendment by Representative Sharon Wylie was adopted which corrected a statutory reference before officials registered a 71-26-0-1 mixed vote to pass the legislation.
- Three cannabis bills at risk were not moved on Wednesday.
- SB 5405 - “Modifying the liquor and cannabis board's subpoena authority.”
- Despite having been pulled to the House floor calendar, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) request legislation to enable subpoena authority in cannabis investigations was not considered by Representatives ahead of the opposite house cutoff. This could reflect the ambivalence evidenced by WSLCB leadership following modification of the bill in the House policy committee.
- As the last fiscal note on the legislation indicated no fiscal impact, it would be difficult to argue subsequent consideration of the bill was “necessary to implement budgets” (NTIB), but we’ll continue to watch to see if the bill is removed from the House floor calendar.
- SB 5340 - “Regarding limits on the sale and possession of retail cannabis products.”
- SB 5363 - “Concerning cannabis retailer advertising.”
- Neither SB 5340 nor SB 5363 were pulled from the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) and would presumably remain there for the rest of the regular session.
- SB 5405 - “Modifying the liquor and cannabis board's subpoena authority.”
- HB 1772 - “Prohibiting products that combine alcohol and tetrahydrocannabinol.”
- On Thursday, legislators would take a bit of a breather after making it through the final opposite house cutoff gateway before starting on the home stretch towards sine die on Sunday April 23rd.
- The Washington State Senate planned to convene at 11am on Thursday.
- Four cannabis bills were available to senators for concurrence with House changes:
- After taking up another controversial bill moments before cutoff and again working late into the evening, House leadership postponed their planned start time on Thursday to 1pm PT eliciting cheers on the floor.
- One cannabis bill was available to representatives for concurrence with Senate changes:
- HB 1066 - “Making technical corrections and removing obsolete language from the Revised Code of Washington pursuant to RCW 1.08.025.”
- One cannabis bill was available to representatives for concurrence with Senate changes:
- Legislators would also renew dialogues on the upcoming biennium budgets including SB 5187, the operating budget. At publication time, the legislation awaited the appointment of a conference committee to negotiate differences between the chamber caucuses.
- Legislation can be declared "necessary to implement budgets" (NTIB), an informal procedure leadership can exercise around any bill with a fiscal impact. The criteria for NTIB status and the decision making around the designation hadn’t been set in law or rule, allowing for a bypass of the cutoff calendar which is agreed to by both chambers through the legislative process.
- Sunday April 23rd would occasion sine die, the end of the regular session, described as the “Last day allowed for regular session under state constitution.”
- The Washington State Senate planned to convene at 11am on Thursday.