Commerce officials planned to brief consultants interested in administering the social equity and community reinvestment cannabis grant programs for up to 1/10 of the total $9M allocated.
Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.
Monday November 13th
WA Commerce - Webinar - Social Equity Grant Program Consultant RFP Pre-Proposal Conference
On Monday at 10am PT, Washington State Department of Commerce (WA Commerce) staff planned to host a webinar for prospective consultants seeking to administer the cannabis social equity technical assistance grant programs.
- [ Event Details ]
- On October 27th, WA Commerce officials announced the publication of a request for proposals (RFP)“from consultants or firms qualified and interested in participating in a project or firm to administer a Cannabis Social Equity Technical Assistance and Grant Program over two years.”
- On October 25th during the WSLCB Board Meeting, Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) Co-Founder Peter Manning raised the issue of a lack of preparedness at WA Commerce to administer the grant program established via HB 2870 in 2020 and encoded as RCW 43.330.540.
- During a discussion on the status of retail equity applicants on October 31st, WSLCB staff acknowledged that the grant program for equity applicants to be administered through WA Commerce had only begun to be set up.
- The RFP itself acknowledged,“RCW 43.330.540 established The Cannabis Social Equity Technical Assistance Grant Program, overseen by COMMERCE, as part of the overall social equity efforts. Through RCW 69.50.540, the Legislature appropriated $6.0 million in state general funds over fiscal years 2024-2025 in support of this Program. An additional $3.0 million as described in the Community Reinvestment Plan to invest in communities disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs will also supplement this funding. At this time, the available total funding for this Program is $9.0 million dollars.”
- On October 31st, Commerce officials published their “Community Reinvestment Plan Report” - although backdated to September 19th on the State Legislature website.
- Later that same day, Commerce officials announced their “plan to invest $200 million to address disparities created by the war on drugs.”
- The next day, on November 1st, Commerce officials exhorted potential consultants to “APPLY NOW: Community Reinvestment Financial Coaching and Mentorship” to gain up to $900K of the $9M for developing and administering the program through June 2025.
- On Monday, potential consultants were invited to a pre-proposal conference on the RFP where “Discussion is limited to information relevant to this procurement and prospective Proposers only.”
- Cannabis Observer reached out to WA Commerce officials to request clearance to observe the proceedings. At publication time, we had not heard back.
- The RFP timeline specified, “The period of performance of any contract resulting from this RFP is tentatively scheduled to begin on or about February 02, 2024.” Presumably, any grants issued from those programs would be delivered some time after that.
Tuesday November 14th
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 ]
- At the Tuesday November 7th caucus, staff shared rulemaking progress including upcoming outreach events, a new petition on cannabis testing results, and a timeline for implementing social equity legislation.
- At the Wednesday November 8th board meeting, members voted to open rulemaking to implement social equity program changes and then heard public remarks related to the grant programs and transparency of the equity process.
Wednesday November 15th
At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.
Thursday November 16th
At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.
Friday November 17th
At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.