WA Legislature - Update
(January 23, 2025)

WA Legislature - Update (January 23, 2025) - Takeaways

Legislators advanced production unions in the House but deferred a production authority transfer before the schedule for the following week and details on four new cannabis-related bills were published.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday January 23rd, the 11th day of the 2025 regular session.

My top 5 takeaways:

  • On Wednesday afternoon, members of the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB) had planned to host an executive session on legislation to shift authority over producers to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) - but opted to defer taking any action.
    • HB 1067 - Cannabis Producer Authority Transfer
      • During a public hearing on Friday January 17th, agency remarks on a bill to move producer/processor regulation to WSDA raised questions of cost and timing, while all but one member of the public testified in favor.
      • A fiscal note on HB 1067 was published on Tuesday January 21st in which WSDA staff estimated needing an additional $14.7M in operating expenses during the 2025-27 fiscal biennium and $5.5M more in subsequent biennia after deducting WSLCB cost savings.
      • On Wednesday, Chair Amy Walen opened the committee meeting by noting their intention to “defer action” on HB 1067.
      • At publication time, another executive session on the legislation had not been scheduled.
  • At close of business on Wednesday, legislative staff released the preliminary committee schedule for the upcoming week which included hearings on eight cannabis-related bills and two planned executive sessions.
    • Monday January 27th
      • 10:30am: WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Public Hearing
    • Tuesday January 28th
      • 8am: WA Senate LAW - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Public Hearing
          • SB 5290 - Pre-Hearing SUD Treatment
      • 1:30pm: WA House CPB - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Public Hearing
          • HB 1341 - DOH Patient Data Sharing
          • HB 1347 - Clarifying WSLCB Certification Authority
          • HB 1449 - Cannabis Home Grow
    • Wednesday January 29th
      • 1:30pm: WA House CPB - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Public Hearing
          • HB 1346 - Out of State Ownership
          • HB 1348 - Cannabis ESOPs
          • HB 1410 - Suspending Inactive Producer Licenses
    • Thursday January 30th
      • 8am: WA House CS - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Executive Session
          • HB 1315 - Alcohol BAC Limit and DUI
      • 10:30am: WA Senate LAW - Committee Meeting [ Event Details ]
        • Executive Session
          • SB 5290 - Pre-Hearing SUD Treatment
  • Four cannabis-related bills were staged for introduction on Thursday covering topics including retail robberies, social equity, out of state ownership, and production unions.
    • HB 1548 - "Deterring robberies from cannabis retail establishments."
    • HB 1551 - "Extending the cannabis social equity program."
      • Social Equity Program Evaluation
      • Representatives Kristine Reeves and Debra Entenman planned to put forward legislation requiring the WSLCB and the Washington State Department of Commerce (WA Commerce) to create a report to the legislature on the first round of the social equity program for publication by December 2025, while also deferring a second round at least until July 2026.  The expiration of the program would also be extended by two years to 2034.
        • WSLCB staff had been planning to open a second round of retail licensing in the spring of 2025.
      • According to the draft introduction report, the bill would be referred to the WA House CPB.
    • SB 5456 - “Removing cannabis industry barriers.”
    • SB 5468 - “Concerning collective bargaining for agricultural cannabis workers.”
      • Cannabis Production Unions
      • Senators Stanford, Steve Conway, Rebecca Saldaña, Manka Dhingra, and Bob Hasegawa planned to carry the cannabis production unions bill in the Senate, a companion to HB 1141.
      • According to the draft introduction report, the bill would be referred to the WA Senate LC led by Saldaña and Conway.
  • On Thursday, legislators were not scheduled to take up cannabis-related legislation in committee.
    • The House was scheduled to convene a pro forma floor session at 10:30am [ TVW ] and the Senate planned to similarly convene at 12:30pm [ TVW ].