WA Legislature - Update
(April 14, 2023)

Social equity legislation and a technical bill with cannabis provisions were passed by the Legislature Thursday and senators called for a conference committee on the operating budget.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday April 14th, the 96th day of the 2023 Regular Session.

My top 4 takeaways:

• On Thursday April 13th, the Washington State Senate (WA Senate) concurred with changes to the social equity bill by the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) and passed the legislation.
  • SB 5080 - “Expanding and improving the social equity in cannabis program.”
  • Senator Rebecca Saldaña motioned for concurrence with House changes to the legislation which she prime sponsored and provided a brief summary of changes. Senator Curtis King, her Republican peer on the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF) who was often critical of that body’s efforts and the related legislation, concurred with the changes and subsequently voted for final passage of the bill.
  • After a voice vote in support of concurrence, a roll call vote on final passage tallied 31-16-0-2 in favor of the legislation. All of the chamber Republicans voted against passage with the exception of Senators King, Jeff Holy, and Ann Rivers.
  • After affixing signatures by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, the legislation would be delivered to the Washington State Office of the Governor (WA Governor) for consideration.

• Also on Thursday, the WA House concurred with WA Senate technical changes to HB 1066—a bill making technical changes—and passed the legislation.
  • HB 1066 - “Making technical corrections and removing obsolete language from the Revised Code of Washington pursuant to RCW 1.08.025.”
  • Representative Roger Goodman, the prime sponsor, motioned for concurrence with the technical changes to the technical changes and remarked that 1066 was also the year of the Battle of Hastings marking the Norman conquest of England. Representative Jim Walsh concurred with the changes and confirmed the Battle of Hastings occurred in 1066.
  • After a voice vote on concurrence, Representatives voted 90-7-0-1 on final passage of the bill.
  • After affixing signatures by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, the legislation would be delivered to the WA Governor for consideration.

• Senators also called for a conference committee on the biennium operating budget bill and appointed caucus members, two Democrats and one Republican, to represent the chamber in deliberations.
  • SB 5187 - “Making 2023-2025 fiscal biennium operating appropriations.”
  • As their first action following the opposite house cutoff, Senators refused to concur with the House changes to SB 5187 and requested the formation of a conference committee to resolve differences between the chambers on the operating budget legislation.
  • The Chair, Vice Chair, and Ranking Minority Member of the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) were appointed to represent the Senate and their caucuses in the conference committee.
    • Senator Christine Rolfes
    • Senator June Robinson
    • Senator Linda Wilson

• On Friday, legislators would continue on the home stretch towards sine die on Sunday April 23rd.
  • The Washington State Senate planned to convene at 10am on Friday.
    • Three cannabis bills were available to senators for concurrence with House changes:
      • SB 5069 - “Allowing interstate cannabis agreements.”
      • SB 5123 - “Concerning the employment of individuals who lawfully consume cannabis.”
      • SB 5367 - “Concerning the regulation of products containing THC.”
  • The Washington State House planned to convene on Friday at 10:30am PT.
    • All cannabis bills available to representatives for concurrence with Senate changes had been passed by the body.
  • 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.”