Following the latest cutoff, four more cannabis bills were out of the running leaving eight bills active, four of which would require consideration by fiscal committees before Monday February 26th.
Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday February 22nd, the 46th day of the 2024 regular session.
My top 3 takeaways:
- Wednesday marked the Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff which rendered four cannabis bills inactive; four more must be considered and recommended by fiscal committees before the next cutoff on Monday.
- Four cannabis bills did not make it through the fourth gateway that most legislation must be shepherded through and were effectively rendered inactive:
- HB 2182 - “Creating a data dashboard to track use of regulated substances.”
- HB 2255 - “Concerning inversion and diversion of cannabis.”
- SB 5340 - “Regarding limits on the sale and possession of retail cannabis products.”
- The substantively identical House companion, HB 1249, was positioned for Senate floor action, making it the farthest advanced cannabis legislation during the 2024 regular session at publication time.
- SB 5546 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”
- Four cannabis bills had been referred to fiscal committees for review ahead of the Opposite House Fiscal Committee Cutoff on Monday February 26th:
- HB 1453 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical cannabis patients.”
- HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- SB 5376 - “Allowing the sale of cannabis waste.”
- SB 6271 - “Modifying the cannabis excise tax to consider THC concentration.”
- Somewhat surprisingly, legislation which would require the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) to undertake additional data collection and reporting before devising and proposing a new taxation scheme based on cannabis product tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration to potentially revise the highest cannabis tax in the country was not referred to a fiscal committee in the Senate for consideration before passage, despite a somewhat low fiscal note from the agency which still rose above the $50K threshold at which bills are typically referred for fiscal review.
- Not so in the opposite chamber, where the bill was referred to the Washington State House Finance Committee (WA House FIN) for consideration. At publication time, the body had not scheduled the legislation for a public hearing nor executive session, which would be the first cannabis-related legislation members would contemplate during the 2024 regular session.
- Four cannabis bills did not make it through the fourth gateway that most legislation must be shepherded through and were effectively rendered inactive:
- Late on Wednesday, legislative staff announced preliminary schedules for the following week in the House and the Senate which would largely shift to floor sessions on Tuesday after the Opposite House Fiscal Committee Cutoff on Monday.
- The final committee cutoff of the 2024 regular session would occur on Monday February 26th, the “Last day to read in opposite house committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.” Members of the fiscal committees would convene one last time on Monday and have the remainder of the day to recommend bills to their peers:
- 8am: WA House FIN - Committee Meeting
- 10am: Washington State Senate Ways and Means (WA Senate WM) - Committee Meeting
- 10:30am: Washington State House Appropriations (WA House APP) - Committee Meeting
- Lawmakers would then shift to floor sessions, focusing on their peers’ legislation ahead of Opposite House Cutoff on Friday March 1st @ 5pm PT, the “Last day to consider (pass) opposite house bills (5 p.m.) (except initiatives and alternatives to initiatives, budgets and matters necessary to implement budgets, differences between the houses, and matters incident to the interim and closing of the session).”
- Following the final cutoff and potentially inclusive of House sessions through the weekend, the sprint to the end of the regular session would consist of floor activity and conference committees through sine die on Thursday March 7th.
- The final committee cutoff of the 2024 regular session would occur on Monday February 26th, the “Last day to read in opposite house committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.” Members of the fiscal committees would convene one last time on Monday and have the remainder of the day to recommend bills to their peers:
- On Thursday, House and Senate fiscal committees planned to hear the cannabis waste and patient excise tax exemption bills, as well as potentially move the “high THC” legislation without the benefit—or inconvenience?—of a public hearing.
- 11am: WA House APP - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
- SB 5376 - “Allowing the sale of cannabis waste.”
- [ Register Position ]
- On Wednesday, legislative staff announced a public hearing on the legislation had been scheduled for the committee’s Thursday meeting.
- SB 5376 - “Allowing the sale of cannabis waste.”
- 1:30pm: WA Senate WM - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
- HB 1453 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical cannabis patients.”
- HB 2320 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- Should HB 2320 be granted an executive session by the fiscal committee, the legislation will not have received a public hearing in the Senate. On arrival in the chamber, HB 2320 was substantively different from its companion legislation which senators chose not to pass, and was subsequently modified even more by senate policy committee members.
- 11am: WA House APP - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]