WA Legislature - Update
(February 13, 2024)

Representatives passed the WSDA lab accreditation bill and senators positioned the cannabis commission legislation for action among six bills still at risk before the House of Origin Cutoff at 5pm.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Tuesday February 13th, the 37th day of the 2024 regular session.

My top 3 takeaways:

• On Monday during another marathon session in the House which bled into early Tuesday morning, representatives passed the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) request legislation which would transfer private lab accreditation authority to the agency.
  • HB 2151 - “Reassigning the accreditation of private cannabis testing laboratories from the department of ecology to the department of agriculture.”
    • House leadership pulled the bill out of the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) towards the end of their session on Friday February 9th.
    • On Monday evening just after 11pm, HB 2151 was included in an order of consideration.
      • Legislative staff subsequently announced the chamber had adjourned around 2:30am.
    • With no amendments, Representative Kristine Reeves endorsed her legislation to ensure “our cannabis remains high quality and safe.”  Minority Caucus Vice Chair Kelly Chambers agreed, emphasizing WSDA assurances that they were prepared to take on the responsibility with no lapse in service (video - TVW).
    • Representatives were nearly unanimous in their support of the bill with the exception of Representative Leonard Christian.
      • Representative Bruce Chandler was again excused.

• Also on Monday, the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) convened at the rostrum at lunch and pulled the cannabis commission bill to their floor calendar.
  • SB 5546 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”
    • The 2023 bill to establish a cannabis commodity commission was reanimated by senators when it was included in the regular package of legislation selected by chamber leadership to be pulled to their floor calendar.
    • SB 5546 had been repeatedly modified as it was advanced, the last action taken in late March 2023 when it was narrowly passed out of the House policy committee and not subsequently granted a hearing in a fiscal committee.  At the end of the session, the legislation was returned to WA Senate RULE for calendaring in 2024.
      • The substantial changes to the bill in the House in 2023 were abandoned when the bill was returned to the Senate where it resumed its final form in that chamber as an engrossed substitute.
    • Senator Sharon Shewmake, the prime sponsor of the legislation, had published a floor striker which was described as having the following effects:
      • “Removes a provision requiring the Department of Agriculture to create rules if an active cannabis producer disputes the results of the referendum and instead requires the producer disputing the result to provide a written statement of why the vote is disputed and request a recount. 
      • “Requires the Cannabis Commission, rather than the Liquor and Cannabis Board to impose and collect an assessment on all active cannabis producers and cannabis producer/processors. Removes the separate assessment rate for cannabis producer/processors. Requires the commission to adopt rules prescribing the time, place, and method for payment and collection of the assessment.”
        • The removal of the separate 0.145% assessment rate for producer/processors in the proposed striker means all eligible wholesalers would be equally charged "0.29 percent of all sales revenue."
      • “Changes the date for the expiration of the exclusion from the assessment for cannabis producers and cannabis producer/processors under the social equity program from October 31, 2028, to October 31, 2029.”
      • A previous version of the striking amendment had been published, but the only difference appeared to be a correction to a date in the summary of effects.
      • See this side-by-side comparison for a rough depiction of the differences between the engrossed substitute and the proposed striker language.
    • Shewmake also published an amendment to the striker:
      • “Allows, prior to conducting a referendum, the Director of Agriculture to require a deposit from the petitioners to defray the expenses of conducting the referendum. Requires the commission to reimburse the petitioners for the amount paid to the Department of Agriculture (department) when funds become available. Requires the petitioners to reimburse the department for expenses incurred if a referendum process is discontinued.”
    • The legislation joined a likely inconsiderable amount of bills remaining on the Senate floor calendar, all awaiting action before the next deadline at 5pm on Tuesday.

• On Tuesday, legislators would conclude their floor sessions by the House of Origin Cutoff at 5pm.
  • The WA House was scheduled to convene at 10am PT and the WA Senate was scheduled to convene at 10am PT.  Both chambers would announce and publish orders of consideration throughout the day listing bills planned for floor activity.
  • At publication time, three cannabis bills were positioned for floor activity in the Senate:
    • SB 5377 - “Concerning cannabis license ownership.”
    • SB 5546 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”
    • SB 5791 - “Concerning the evaluation of the effectiveness of oral fluid roadside information in the enforcement of driving under the influence laws.”
  • At publication time, three cannabis-related bills appeared at risk, having not been calendared by chamber rules committees:
    • HB 1822 - “Concerning complimentary products provided by short-term rental operators to guests.”
    • SB 5405 - “Modifying the liquor and cannabis board's subpoena authority.”
    • SB 5662 - “Creating the cannabis employee job retention act.”
  • The House of Origin Cutoff would occur on Tuesday at 5pm PT.