WA Legislature - Update
(February 1, 2024)

Legislators would don their quantitative hats through Monday to move legislation through fiscal committees - but only three cannabis-related bills had been scheduled for attention.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday February 1st, the 25th day of the 2024 regular session.

My top 4 takeaways:

• Senate leadership announced they planned to convene the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) on Friday February 2nd at 1pm PT.
  • Committee members did not meet on Wednesday after their floor session in which no action was taken on cannabis-related legislation.
  • On Friday, members would be granted one pull from the WA Senate RULE White calendar to the floor in addition to regular and consent packages of bills selected by committee leadership.

• Leadership of the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) made room on their Saturday February 3rd agenda to hear SB 6220, “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
  • [ Register Position ]
  • Heard on January 22nd in the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC), testimony on the Senate bill on cannabis concentrates was similar to the House counterpart, but some new points were made after the sponsor, Senator Jesse Salomon, raised the specter of Reefer Madness.
  • During the executive session on Tuesday January 30th, a proposed substitute by Senator Drew Hansen was unanimously adopted which would require the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) to undertake defining “cannabis products with high THC concentrations” before the minimum age of purchase was raised on those products.  Chair Karen Keiser and Ranking Member Curtis King both agreed the legislation needed more work and would be changed down the road.
  • The legislation was referred to the Senate finance committee and its public hearing on Saturday was announced in the early evening on Wednesday January 31st.
    • The House of Origin Fiscal Committee Cutoff would occur on Monday February 5th, and WA Senate WM members would have one last occasion to meet that day to recommend bills out of committee.
  • By way of contrast, HB 2320, the more substantially modified House version of the “high THC cannabis products” bill, was similarly referred to the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) for review but had not been scheduled for a public hearing at publication time.

• Given the imminent arrival of the House of Origin Fiscal Committee Cutoff on Monday February 5th, the preliminary committee schedules for the following week were predictably thin as legislators prepared to host floor sessions to move bills out of their respective chambers.
  • The WA Senate schedule for the following week showed their finance committee would meet on Monday morning and had a blank slate agenda yet to be filled with last minute hearings and executive sessions.
  • Similarly, the WA House schedule for the following week allotted time for WA House APP members to convene, but already had five bills scheduled for attention.
  • Presumably, the leadership of both chambers would leave their floor sessions open throughout Monday to read in recommendations from their respective finance committees prior to the close of business.
  • Both bodies would then convene floor sessions and caucus throughout the week and potentially into the following weekend, with the House even provisionally scheduling time to convene on Sunday February 11th.
    • House of Origin cutoff would occur the following Tuesday, February 13th, at 5pm PT.

• On Thursday, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) planned to hear two cannabis-related bills - the only cannabis legislation thus far scheduled for attention in the House finance committee, whose agendas were quickly being filled up.
  • 10:30am: WA House APP - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
    • HB 1650 - “Requiring voter approval for local government prohibitions on cannabis businesses.”
      • [ Register Position ]
      • At publication time, assigned the #8 position among public hearings on the agenda
    • HB 2151 - “Reassigning the accreditation of private cannabis testing laboratories from the department of ecology to the department of agriculture.”
      • [ Register Position ]
      • At publication time, assigned the #7 position among public hearings on the agenda
  • In addition to the selected legislation, three cannabis bills had been recommended to the WA House APP but had not yet been granted public hearings at publication time.
    • HB 2194 - “Legalizing the home cultivation of cannabis.”
      • HB 1614, prior home grow legislation, was heard by WA House APP members in 2023 but not granted an executive session.  The legislation remained in committee at publication time but would almost certainly not be considered.
    • HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
    • HB 2449 - “Concerning use of cannabis tax revenue for professional health care services.”