WA Legislature - Update
(January 8, 2024)

Two new cannabis bills were pre-filed Friday, two existing bills were pushed back in the process, and the draft cutoff calendar was published ahead of the start of the regular session on Monday.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Monday January 8th, the 1st day of the 2024 regular session.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Two additional cannabis-related bills were pre-filed on Friday January 5th which called for WSLCB to maintain an expansive data dashboard and straightforward legislation to legalize home grow.
  • HB 2182 - “Creating a data dashboard to track use of regulated substances.”
    • Representatives Kristine Reeves and Greg Cheney, respectively Democrat and Republican members of the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG), pre-filed the legislation which would require Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) staff to maintain “a data dashboard to track policies, funding, and program and health outcomes related to the sale, consumption, and use of regulated substances.”
    • Closely related, the final report of the Washington State Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) on “Appropriations and Expenditures of the Dedicated Cannabis Account,” approved on January 4th, carried a recommendation that WSLCB staff “should create a webpage that provides information about cannabis revenues and expenditures.” The agency was reported to have concurred with the recommendation.
  • HB 2194 - “Legalizing the home cultivation of cannabis.”
    • Representative Shelley Kloba, following through on a commitment voiced in the interim, pre-filed legislation aiming to more directly legalize the home growing of cannabis by adults. She was joined by co-sponsors Sharon Wylie, her Co-Chair on WA House RSG, along with Representatives Beth Doglio, Roger Goodman, and Nicole Macri.
    • More complicated home grow legislation had traditionally encountered resistance from some stakeholders.  In 2023, HB 1614 was advanced as far as a public hearing in the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) only to be thwarted when its scheduled executive session was rescinded by leadership during their final meeting before the house of origin fiscal committee cutoff.

• Curiously, planned executive sessions on two cannabis-related bills from the 2023 session were reverted to public hearings even though both bills had been previously recommended for passage by the policy committee.
  • HB 1249 - “Regarding limits on the sale and possession of retail cannabis products.”
    • In 2023, the bill expanding sales and possession limits for low-THC beverages was heard in committee in mid-January and unanimously recommended in early February. The bill was not subsequently moved by the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) and was returned to committee at the end of the regular session.
    • On Wednesday January 3rd, the preliminary schedule for the first week of the 2024 session announced an executive session for HB 1249 had been planned for the Tuesday January 9th WA House RSG meeting. On Friday January 5th, a follow up announcement indicated the executive session had been cancelled and a public hearing on the bill was planned instead.
  • HB 1650 - “Requiring voter approval for local government prohibitions on cannabis businesses.”
    • In the last WA House RSG meeting before the 2023 house of origin policy committee cutoff, a divided vote along party lines resulted in a narrow recommendation to pass the proposal. It was not further moved during the 2023 session.
    • It was therefore less surprising that on Friday January 5th, HB 1650 was also rescheduled as a public hearing on January 9th rather than an executive session during the committee’s first meeting on January 8th.
  • The membership of the WA House RSG remained the same as the 2023 roster, save the replacement of Representative Jim Walsh by Michelle Caldier, both Republicans.
    • In August, Walsh was elected the Chair of the Washington State Republican Party. Two days later, a complaint was filed with the Washington State Legislative Ethics Board (WA LEB) alleging that Walsh “spoke at a rally held in opposition to the Washington State Supreme Court’s ruling upholding transgender rights. The complaint further alleges that Respondent was scheduled to speak at another event at an undisclosed location at which the III% were allegedly going to be present.” In late November, the WA LEB administratively dismissed the complaint as they could not establish contact with the Complainant.

• Legislation describing the draft cutoff calendar for 2024 was pre-filed on Friday suggesting a lengthy period for consideration of bills in house of origin policy committees would be followed by very quick weekly deadlines throughout the remainder of the 60 day short session.
  • On Friday, Senators Jamie Pederson and Shelly Short pre-filed SCR 8412, “Establishing cutoff dates for the consideration of legislation during the 2024 regular session of the sixty-eighth legislature.”The continuing resolution declared the following deadlines for the session:
    • Wednesday January 31st: House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff
    • Monday February 5th: House of Origin Fiscal Committee Cutoff
    • Tuesday February 13th @ 5pm PT: House of Origin Cutoff
    • Wednesday February 21st: Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff
    • Monday February 26th: Opposite House Fiscal Committee Cutoff
    • Friday March 1st: Opposite House Cutoff
    • Thursday March 7th: Sine Die
  • A draft cutoff calendar was published on the Washington State Legislature website.  The cutoff dates and other cannabis-related activity can be viewed on the embedded Google Calendar on the Cannabis Observer Events screen or imported as an additional calendar accessible through your Google account by clicking the “+ Google Calendar” icon in the lower right.