Halfway through the 60-day regular session and after the seeming demise of nine cannabis-related bills, legislators entered their chambers given one week to move legislation before the House of Origin Cutoff.
Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Tuesday February 6th, the 30th day of the 2024 regular session.
My top 4 takeaways:
- On Monday, the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) chose not to take action on their version of the “high THC cannabis products” legislation.
- SB 6220 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- Members received a staff briefing on the legislation and two amendments which, if both accepted, would have excised all sections of the bill with the exception of the statement of legislative intent.
- Upon return from caucus, Chair June Robinson announced that the committee would not consider SB 6220.
- Given the House of Origin Fiscal Committee Cutoff occurred at the close of business on Monday, the Senate version of the “high THC” bill became technically inactive, but could be granted “necessary to implement budgets” status by chamber leadership.
- SB 6220 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- Also on Monday, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) recommended their version of the “high THC” legislation to their chamber.
- HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- After being granted a public hearing on Friday night mere hours before the start of the committee meeting on Saturday morning, the only person able to sign in to offer testimony was unavailable when called upon in the early evening.
- During the executive session, committee members incorporated Chair Timm Ormsby’s signature "standard null and void clause” and recommended the second substitute language to their peers unanimously with Representative Bruce Chandler excused.
- The legislation would be referred to the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) for calendaring at the discretion of chamber leadership.
- HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- At the close of business on Monday, both chambers concluded their floor sessions by reading in recommendations from their fiscal committees, winnowing the list of active cannabis-related bills down to 17.
- At publication time, the farthest advanced cannabis-related legislation of the 2024 session were two bills which had been passed by the Senate and awaited public hearings in the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG). They would likely not be taken up until after the House of Origin Cutoff on Tuesday February 13th.
- One cannabis bill had been pulled to the House floor calendar along with four to the Senate and all were well positioned for action during the upcoming week.
- HB 2182 - “Creating a data dashboard to track use of regulated substances.”
- SB 5340 - “Regarding limits on the sale and possession of retail cannabis products.”
- SB 5363 - “Concerning cannabis retailer advertising.”
- SB 5377 - “Concerning cannabis license ownership.”
- SB 6133 - “Deterring robberies from cannabis retail establishments.”
- Four Senate bills were awaiting pulls to the chamber floor calendar by members of the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE), actions which could come as early as their planned meeting on Tuesday early afternoon.
- SB 5405 - “Modifying the liquor and cannabis board's subpoena authority.”
- SB 5546 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”
- SB 5662 - “Creating the cannabis employee job retention act.”
- SB 5791 - “Concerning the evaluation of the effectiveness of oral fluid roadside information in the enforcement of driving under the influence laws.”
- Six House bills were awaiting pulls out of the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL), which appeared to not have been convened throughout the 2024 session, chamber leadership instead deciding which bills to pull via declarative floor actions.
- HB 1249 - “Regarding limits on the sale and possession of retail cannabis products.”
- HB 1453 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical cannabis patients.”
- HB 1822 - “Concerning complimentary products provided by short-term rental operators to guests.”
- HB 2151 - “Reassigning the accreditation of private cannabis testing laboratories from the department of ecology to the department of agriculture.”
- HB 2255 - “Concerning inversion and diversion of cannabis.”
- HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- Despite the perennial attrition of legislation on home grow (HB 2194) and the unpopularity of popular control of local cannabis business bans (HB 1650), the 17 remaining active cannabis bills comprised meaningful incremental improvements and important corrections for the cannabis sector.
- On Tuesday, legislators would begin one week of floor sessions to read, debate, amend, and pass legislation out of their respective chambers before the House of Origin Cutoff on Tuesday February 13th at 5pm PT.
- The WA House was scheduled to convene at 9am PT and the WA Senate was scheduled to convene at 10am PT. Both bodies would publish orders of consideration throughout the day listing bills planned for floor activity.
- WA Senate RULE planned to meet Tuesday at lunch (estimated around 12:30pm) and members would be granted one opportunity to pull legislation in addition to a regular package of bills selected by leadership.