WA Legislature - Update
(January 25, 2024)

The House cannabis policy committee may only meet once more before the first cutoff, out-of-state ownership was moved in the Senate, and the potency tax bill was up for exec.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday January 25th, the 18th day of the 2024 regular session.

My top 4 takeaways:

• Days before the first cutoff of session, the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) cancelled their last meeting of the week.
  • On Monday January 22nd, members removed executive sessions on two cannabis-related bills planned for their Thursday January 25th meeting.
    • HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
    • HB 2334 - “Transferring certain cannabis licensing activities to the department of agriculture.”
  • On Wednesday, members cancelled the Thursday meeting completely.
  • The House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff, the first deadline of the regular session, occurs on Wednesday January 31st.  According to the 2024 House session planning document, WA House RSG members had opportunities for two more meetings (Monday January 29th and Tuesday January 30th) to hear and move House legislation out of committee.
  • At publication time, there were 28 house bills, 13 of which were cannabis-related, in WA House RSG awaiting action.

• During the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) meeting on Wednesday afternoon, members moved the out-of-state ownership bill to the floor calendar.
  • Senator Ron Muzzall called SB 5377 (“Concerning cannabis license ownership”) a “very interesting bill” as he utilized one of his two member pulls granted for the meeting to ask his peers to move the legislation forward. He concluded his remarks on the expected effects by acknowledging it was “not a simple bill, but needed” (video - TVW).
  • During the vote, it appeared that Senator Bob Hasegawa registered his opposition to the motion.  That would be consistent with his remarks against movement of the bill out of the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) in 2023 when he alleged that the bill was “just opening our state’s cannabis industry up to corporate control from out of state” (audio < 1m, video).
  • The motion carried, positioning SB 5377 for a second and third reading at an upcoming Senate floor session.

• Legislative staff released the preliminary schedule for the fourth week of the 2024 regular session, showing very few cannabis-related bills were scheduled for activity and WA House RSG members had not yet scheduled a meeting the day before the first cutoff.
  • Monday January 29th
    • 10:30am: WA Senate Law - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
      • Public Hearing
        • SB 6133 - “Deterring robberies from cannabis retail establishments.”
    • 1:30pm: WA House RSG - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
      • Executive Session
        • HB 2182 - “Creating a data dashboard to track use of regulated substances.”
        • HB 2194 - “Legalizing the home cultivation of cannabis.”
        • HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
  • Tuesday January 30th
    • 10:30am: WA Senate Law - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
      • Executive Session
        • SB 6133 - “Deterring robberies from cannabis retail establishments.”
  • Wednesday January 31st
    • House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff
      • “Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) in house of origin, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.”
  • Notably, WA House RSG members did not indicate plans to host a meeting on Tuesday at 4pm during their regular weekly time slot.

• On Thursday, the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) planned to host an executive session on legislation to investigate tying the cannabis excise tax rate to a product’s tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content - an approach sometimes referred to as a “potency tax.”
  • 8am: WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
    • Executive Session
      • SB 6271 - “Modifying the cannabis excise tax to consider THC concentration.”
        • Heard on Monday January 22nd, legislation proposing a study of changing product tax rates based on cannabinoid content divided cannabis sector interests, while a public health official supported further evaluation of the approach.
        • At publication time, no amendments had been put forward with regards to the legislation.