WA Legislature - Update (March 11, 2025)

WSLCB request legislation granting access to patient identifiers was passed by the House and all five cannabis bills needing to be advanced before the cutoff on Wednesday were positioned for floor action.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Tuesday March 11th, the 58th day of the 2025 regular session.

My top 4 takeaways:

On Monday, the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) brought up and passed the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) request legislation seeking access to deidentified patient data secured by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
- HB 1341 - DOH Patient Data Sharing
  - Representative Sharon Wylie introduced WSLCB request legislation to authorize agency access to Washington State Department of Health (DOH) patient data.
    - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
  - On January 28th during the public hearing in the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB), 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 the Washington State Department of Revenue (WA DOR) to validate excise tax exempt sales of DOH compliant cannabis products.
    - It’s Cannabis Observer’s understanding that the agency would access patient registry identifiers rather than names, and time periods when registrations were valid. Those values would then be compared to patient identifiers associated with timestamped excise tax exempt retail transactions reported to the WSLCB through the Cannabis Central Reporting System (CCRS) to ensure the legitimacy of sales as well as complete collection of excise tax revenue by the State. Should audits turn up invalid transactions, retailers will remain liable for the production of funds.
  - During the executive session on February 5th, Minority Caucus Vice Chair and Ranking Minority Member Stephanie McClintock first asked if the legislation would enable WSLCB staff access to personally identifiable information (PII) such as patient names, and committee staff confirmed it would not. No amendments to the legislation were presented and the members unanimously recommended the bill.
  - As the fiscal note detailed no expected financial impacts, the standing committee report recommended referral to WA House RUL for calendaring on February 10th.
  - HB 1341 was calendared early in the morning on Sunday March 9th after a marathon House floor session.
  - The legislation was the first bill on the second order of consideration brought before the House on Monday. No floor amendments were presented. Wylie spoke around the history of the medical and recreational markets, but incorrectly described the legislation as creating a new registry database. McClintock voiced her support for the bill and the legislation was passed 88-5-0-5. One Democrat joined a few Republicans voting against the bill:
    - Representative Jeremie Dufault
      - In his role as Assistant Ranking Minority Member in WA House CPB supporting McClintock, Dufault recommended the identical legislation out of committee.
    - Representative Mary Dye
    - Deputy Majority Whip Mari Leavitt
    - Assistant Minority Whip Gloria Mendoza
      - Mendoza was prompted to cast her vote as the Speaker closed the roll-call machine.
    - Washington State Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh
  - The House Democratic Caucus subsequently announced the passage of the legislation in a release titled, "Rep. Wylie Strengthens Medical Cannabis Tax Exemption Protections."

Also on Monday, all four of the cannabis-related bills remaining in chamber rules committees were calendared.
- During the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) meeting at the rostrum during the lunch break, the three cannabis-related bills remaining in committee were included in the regular package of bills selected by chamber leadership for calendaring.
  - SB 5206 - Cannabis Retailer Advertising
    - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
  - SB 5403 - Cannabis Retail Financial Interest
    - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
  - SB 5758 - Social Equity Buffer Zones
    - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
  - WA Senate RULE was scheduled to convene again on Tuesday at the lunch break - but no cannabis-related legislation remained in the committee following their actions on Monday.
- At the close of business in the House late on Monday, chamber leaders also pulled a package of bills out of the Washington State House Rules Committee (WA House RUL) inclusive of the last remaining cannabis-related bill.
  - HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
    - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.

There were no introductions of cannabis-related legislation in the Senate on Monday, and no relevant introductions planned in either chamber on Tuesday.
- The draft introduction reports in the House and the Senate for Tuesday March 11th did not appear to include new cannabis-related legislation, reflecting the complications besetting introduction of legislation after the House of Origin Policy and Fiscal Committee Cutoffs.

On Tuesday, legislators would convene floor sessions to debate and advance legislation; all five cannabis-related bills at risk had been calendared ahead of the House of Origin Cutoff on Wednesday March 12th at 5pm.
- 10am: WA House - Session
  - [ Floor Activity Report, TVW - Morning, TVW - Afternoon, TVW - Evening ]
  - After debating and moving legislation past 11pm on Monday night, representatives opted to delay their planned start time past 9am.
  - At publication time, one cannabis-related bill was positioned for floor activity in the House.
    - HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
      - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      - Late on Saturday night, Majority Caucus Chair Lillian Ortiz-Self published a floor amendment on her bill which seemed intended to address fears about creeping unionization of agriculture.
- 10am: WA Senate - Session
  - [ Floor Activity Report, TVW - Morning, TVW - Afternoon, TVW - Evening ]
  - At publication time, four cannabis-related bills were positioned for floor activity in the Senate.
    - SB 5206 - Cannabis Retailer Advertising
      - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
    - SB 5403 - Cannabis Retail Financial Interest
      - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
    - SB 5700 - DOH Patient Data Sharing
      - As the identical companion legislation HB 1341 was passed by the House on Monday, senate leadership may deprioritize passage of SB 5700.
      - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
    - SB 5758 - Social Equity Buffer Zones
      - See the bill text, bill report, and fiscal note for more details.
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
  - At publication time, two adjacent bills were positioned for floor activity in the Senate.
    - SB 5067 - Alcohol BAC Limit and DUI
      - At publication time, there were no published amendments on the legislation.
    - SB 5290 - Pre-Hearing SUD Treatment
      - On Thursday afternoon, Senator Jeff Holy published amendment S-2059.2 to reintroduce prosecutorial discretion to object to dismissal of relevant possession charges.