WA Legislature - Update
(January 23, 2024)

After a particularly busy Monday for cannabis-related legislation in both the Senate and House, representatives were scheduled to move the inversion/diversion bill on Tuesday.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Tuesday January 23rd, the 16th day of the 2024 regular session.

My top 4 takeaways:

• On Monday, members of the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) heard two bills on concentrated cannabis products and re-referred excise tax revenue appropriation legislation.
  • SB 6271 - “Modifying the cannabis excise tax to consider THC concentration.”
    • Positions (testifying + not testifying - duplicates = total)
      • PRO: 3 + 3 - 0 = 6
      • CON: 3 + 10 - 2 = 11
      • OTHER: 1 + 0 - 0 = 1
    • Later that day, an executive session on the legislation was added to the WA Senate LC meeting on Thursday January 25th at 8am PT.
  • SB 6220 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
    • Positions (testifying + not testifying - duplicates = total)
      • PRO: 8 + 24 - 2 = 30
      • CON: 9 + 14 - 0 = 23
      • OTHER: 0 + 0 - 0 = 0
    • At publication time, no executive session on SB 6220 had been scheduled.
      • Later that afternoon, legislative staff announced the planned executive session on the companion legislation in the House, HB 2320, had been removed.
  • SB 6272 - “Dedicating the state share of cannabis excise tax revenue to counties and cities.”
    • WA Senate LC members re-referred legislation to the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM), the primary finance policy committee in the Senate, which would substantially boost cannabis excise tax revenue distributions to local governments by eliminating the standing appropriation to the State General Fund.
    • HB 2449 (“Concerning use of cannabis tax revenue for professional health care services”), similar legislation targeting the sweep of funds into the State General Fund which was introduced on Monday by House Republicans, was referred to the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) rather than the Washington State House Health Care and Wellness Committee (WA House HCW) as drafted. By day’s end, 12 more republicans in addition to the three initial sponsors had signed onto the legislation.

• Also on Monday, the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) heard the inversion/diversion bill and moved the WSDA lab accreditation legislation, but deferred taking action on the out-of-state ownership bill and home grow.
  • HB 2255 - “Concerning inversion and diversion of cannabis.”
    • Positions (testifying + not testifying - duplicates = total)
      • PRO: 4 + 4 - 0 = 8
      • CON: 1 + 3 - 0 = 4
      • OTHER: 0 + 0 - 0 = 0
    • An executive session on the legislation remained scheduled for Tuesday January 23rd.
  • HB 2151 - “Reassigning the accreditation of private cannabis testing laboratories from the department of ecology to the department of agriculture.”
    • Heard on Monday January 15th, legislation to alter a planned transfer of cannabis lab accreditation authority was broadly praised by the sponsor, agency leaders, and cannabis sector stakeholders.
    • During the executive session, an amendment by prime sponsor Representative Kristine Reeves was incorporated which would remove statutory language requiring failing lots to be destroyed, a concern raised by Cannabis Alliance Executive Director Caitlein Ryan in testimony.
    • The legislation was recommended unanimously out of the committee. Given the substantial fiscal note, the bill would likely be referred to the WA House APP for more focused financial review.
  • HB 1341 - "Concerning cannabis license ownership."
    • A proposed substitute on the out-of-state ownership legislation was published on Monday morning by Co-Chair Sharon Wylie, the prime sponsor, to effect technical changes to dates and rearrange sections.
    • While members were briefed and caucused on the bill, committee leadership opted to defer taking action on the legislation. At publication time, no subsequent executive session had been scheduled.
  • HB 2194 - “Legalizing the home cultivation of cannabis.”
    • Heard on Tuesday January 16th and with the exception of perennial opposition from particular law enforcement and prevention representatives, testimony was wholly supportive of entrusting Washingtonians with the right to grow six cannabis plants without the threat of having their lives upended by a class C felony.
    • Republican Representative Greg Cheney suggested two amendments overnight on Thursday January 18th.  The first aimed to raise the penalty for knowingly growing more than six cannabis plants but less than 16 from a class 1 civil infraction to a misdemeanor.  Law enforcement officers who issued such penalties could then summarily destroy all of the grower’s plants.
    • The second aimed to cut the allowable home grow plant count in half from six to three, while the other half would be characterized as "immature" plants.
      • RCW 69.50.101 (aa) [(27)] offers the responsive definition “‘Immature plant or clone’ means a plant or clone that has no flowers, is less than twelve inches in height, and is less than twelve inches in diameter.”
      • However, seeds, seedlings, and immature plants are not technically cannabis in Washington state, which “means all parts of the plant Cannabis, whether growing or not, with a THC concentration greater than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis during the growing cycle through harvest and usable cannabis.” Immature plants are hemp from a legal perspective.
      • In Ocean Park in May 2021, a medical cannabis patient had their home raided under questionable circumstances and law enforcement seized 53 plants. However, it turned out that 39 of those plants were seedlings with negligible THC content, leaving Pacific County prosecutors to consider whether they would pursue manufacturing charges against the family which had been cultivating 14 mature plants - within the 15 plant limit per house.
    • While members were briefed on the amendments and caucused on the bill, committee leadership opted to defer taking action on the legislation. At publication time, no subsequent executive session had been scheduled.

• Monday afternoon, the Washington State Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources, and Parks Committee (WA Senate AWNP) heard legislation which would authorize “hemp extract” as a lawful food ingredient within “hemp consumables” in the state of Washington.
  • SB 6209 - “Concerning hemp consumable products.”
    • Positions (testifying + not testifying - duplicates = total)
      • PRO: 6 + 15 - 1 = 20
      • CON: 1 + 5 - 0 = 6
      • OTHER: 1 + 1 - 0 = 2
    • An executive session on the legislation remained scheduled for Thursday January 25th.

• On Tuesday, legislation intended to focus Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) investigative resources on inversion and diversion of cannabis in the regulated market was scheduled for action, but the data dashboard bill was delayed.
  • 4pm: WA House RSG - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
    • Executive Session
      • HB 2255 - “Concerning inversion and diversion of cannabis.”
      • HB 2182 - “Creating a data dashboard to track use of regulated substances.”
        • While members had previously planned to host an executive session on HB 2182, the legislation was pulled from the schedule on Monday afternoon.
        • At the initial public hearing on Tuesday January 16th, testimony on legislation to set up a WSLCB data dashboard was largely supportive, with some calls for additional data or formatting changes.
        • No amendments had been published prior to the legislation being pulled.  At publication time, a subsequent executive session on the bill had not been scheduled.