The Week Ahead
(February 3, 2025)

WaTech - IT Project Dashboard - WSLCB - Systems Modernization Project (SMP)

Five cannabis bills would receive hearings in the fourth week of the 2025 session, while regulators trimmed lab accreditation rules and briefed lawmakers on technology challenges.

Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.

Monday February 3rd

WSLCB - Focus Group - Lab Authority Transfer

On Monday at 9am 10am PT, Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Policy and Rules staff planned to host a focus group on the Lab Authority Transfer rulemaking project.

  • [ Event Details, Rulemaking Project ]
  • Originally scheduled for completion before the end of 2024, the agency rulemaking project to scrub its rules regarding accreditation of private testing labs had not been advanced beyond the CR-101 stage at publication time.  Participants would convene to discuss conceptual draft rules shared with the focus group announcement on January 23rd.
  • The unusual situation of having one agency with statutory authority regarding lab accreditation—the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA)---but two with regulatory rules on the subject (WSDA and WSLCB) appeared to have prompted the filing of clarifying legislation, HB 1347.
    • During the initial public hearing on January 28th, representatives of the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) and two labs testified to business concerns about an unclear division of authorities, overlapping rulesets, and a WSLCB legacy of unbalanced enforcement.
    • During the WSLCB Board Caucus on Tuesday January 28th, WSLCB Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster explained he “was a little bit unclear on what prompted” the legislation, pointing out the agency remained in the midst of rulemaking on the transfer of lab authority to the WSDA. Regardless, he emphasized “certification was still important…we’re going to look to Ag for the science, but we still have oversight to ensure that everything’s above board” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
  • After publication, WSLCB staff changed the start time of the focus group previously scheduled for 9am.  The "CORRECTED TIME" is 10am.

Tuesday February 4th

WSLCB - Board Caucus

On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.

WA House CPB - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Public Hearing
    • HB 1346 - Out of State Ownership
      • On January 16th, Representative David Hackney introduced legislation seeking to lift requirements which limit ownership of Washington cannabis business licenses to state residents, a constraint which is commonly alleged to diminish the influx of capital from out of state investors.
      • The legislation had been scheduled for an initial public hearing on January 29th, but the hearing was deferred on January 23rd.
    • HB 1348 - Cannabis ESOPs
      • Also on January 16th, Hackney introduced legislation regarding employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) specific to the cannabis sector, clarifying legislation sought by the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) after WSLCB staff withdrew the ESOPs rulemaking project in December.
      • Like HB 1346, the legislation had been scheduled for an initial public hearing on January 29th, but the hearing was also deferred on January 23rd.
        • At publication time, Hackney had been absent from the Legislature for the majority of the 2025 session likely impacting the scheduling of bills which he prime sponsored.  Representative Kristine Reeves had stepped in to fill his role as Vice Chair of WA House CPB.
    • HB 1410 - Suspending Inactive Producer Licenses
      • On January 20th, Representative Sam Low introduced legislation requiring the WSLCB to suspend producer licenses issued under RCW 69.50.325 if the associated unified business identifier (UBI) tracked by the Washington State Department of Revenue (WA DOR) showed no business activity between July 2023 and December 2024.  Suspended licenses would be “reissued” in two circumstances:
        • “(A) Federal law allows for the interstate transfer of cannabis between authorized cannabis-related businesses; or
        • “(B) The United States department of justice issues an opinion or memorandum allowing or tolerating the interstate transfer of cannabis between authorized cannabis-related businesses.”
      • Like HB 1346 and HB 1348, the legislation had been scheduled for an initial public hearing on January 29th, but the hearing was deferred on January 23rd.
    • HB 1551 - Social Equity Program Evaluation
      • On January 23rd, Reeves and Representative Debra Entenman 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 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.

WA Senate WM - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 4pm PT, the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Public Hearing
    • SB 5547 - Cannabis Excise Tax Local Distributions
      • On January 28th, Republican Whip Keith Wagoner introduced legislation which would stepwise increase both distributions of cannabis excise tax revenue to participating localities encoded in RCW 69.50.540.
        • Section (3)(c)(i) appropriates “One and one-half percent to counties, cities, and towns where licensed cannabis retailers are physically located.”  Wagoner’s legislation would increase that distribution annually by 0.5% up to “four percent for fiscal year 2030 and thereafter.”
        • Section (3)(c)(ii) appropriates “Three and one-half percent to counties, cities, and towns ratably on a per capita basis” to jurisdictions without a complete ban or moratoria.  Wagoner’s language would increase that distribution annually by 0.5% up to “six percent for fiscal year 2030 and thereafter.”
        • The revenue would be decremented from the appropriation to the State general fund at the current level of 32% down to 27% in 2030.
      • According to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Dedicated Cannabis Account revenue dashboard, the agency collected $458M in excise tax revenue and fees in fiscal year 2024 for deposit into the account, 5% of which would be $22.9M.

Wednesday February 5th

WA House TEDV - Committee Meeting

On Wednesday at 8am PT, the Washington State House Technology, Economic Development, and Veterans Committee (WA House TEDV) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Work Session
    • “Technology Updates from State Agencies.”
      • During the Tuesday January 28th WSLCB Board Caucus, Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster noted that agency staff would “be part of a panel of state agencies presenting on IT projects and modernizing aging systems, something that I think we now have a bit of experience to speak from.”  He indicated staff from the Washington State Department of Licensing (WA DOL) and Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech) would also participate (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • At publication time, WSLCB had expended $35M of a planned $74M on its System Modernization Project (SMP) undertaken in 2016, having failed multiple times to migrate mission critical software systems from an on-premise minicomputer to contemporary platforms.
      • In November 2024 during a meeting of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee I-900 Subcommittee (JLARC I-900 Subcommittee), WSLCB leaders offered reasons why the State Auditor’s 2018 traceability and project management recommendations hadn’t been implemented before facing critical public testimony.

WA House CPB - Committee Meeting

On Wednesday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Executive Session
    • HB 1341 - DOH Data Sharing
      • On Thursday January 16th, Representative Sharon Wylie introduced WSLCB request legislation to authorize access to Washington State Department of Health (DOH) patient data.  See the bill analysis for more details.
        • As detailed in the fiscal note, neither WSLCB nor DOH staff expected any work would be required to authorize access similar or identical to that already granted to Washington State Department of Revenue (WA DOR) staff.
      • On Tuesday January 28th during the public hearing, WSLCB Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster spoke in support of the legislation, conveying a legal interpretation that a statutory change was necessary to authorize the same access to protected DOH patient data as granted to WA DOR to validate excise tax exempt sales of DOH compliant cannabis products.
        • Cannabis Alliance Executive Director Caitlein Ryan also testified in support of the bill to ensure that WSLCB Finance staff could audit tax exempt sales to prove the narrowly tailored incentives put in place through HB 1453 in 2024 were being upheld.
      • At publication time, no amendments to the legislation had been published.

Thursday February 6th

WSLCB - Focus Group - Lab Authority Transfer

On Thursday at 1pm PT, Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Policy and Rules staff planned to host a focus group on the Lab Authority Transfer rulemaking project.

Friday February 7th

WA Pharmacy Commission - Legislative Review

On Friday at 12pm PT, the weekly Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (WA Pharmacy Commission) Legislative Review was scheduled to recur.