Observations

Legislators appeared to have resolved a dispute over language added to the final clearly active cannabis bill by members of the House, and the WSLCB lobbyist hinted at the budget timeline.

Board members learned more about environmental pesticide investigations and test results before hearing a proposal for a dedicated research unit at the agency and legislative updates.

Six cannabis bills had been passed by the Legislature including the far reaching THC legislation, leaving only one clearly active cannabis bill in dispute in the House.

Legislators greeted the final week of the 2023 regular session as WSLCB staff cleaned up a policy mess nearly made near the sleeping giant of environmental pesticide contamination.

Social equity legislation and a technical bill with cannabis provisions were passed by the Legislature Thursday and senators called for a conference committee on the operating budget.

Agency leadership reported on their response to legacy environmental pesticides, CANNRA engagement, rule and research plans, as well as the status of hiring a new director.

And then there were seven; three cannabis bills were passed hours prior to the final cutoff gateway as legislators turned to concurrence votes, disputes, and conference committee work.

Pausing emergency rulemaking which would lower action levels for some pesticides didn’t preclude public comments critical of the approach taken by agency staff to the overall situation.

None of four well-positioned cannabis bills were considered on Tuesday and remained in competition for limited opportunities for movement through the last cutoff gateway on Wednesday.

The board heard that details on emergency rules around potential soil contamination could wait until the following day’s board meeting, and staff also gave legislative and rulemaking updates.