The Week Ahead
(January 25, 2021)

Thurston County Courthouse Sign

WSLCB licensing staff would testify before the social equity task force the same week as an out-of-state ownership lawsuit proceeded while 11 cannabis-related bills made their way through the legislature.

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

2021 Legislative Session - Cannabis-related Bill Status

  • HB 1019 - “Allowing residential marijuana agriculture.”
    • Sponsors (16): Kloba, MacEwen, Ryu, Wicks, Dolan, Fitzgibbon, Peterson, Goodman, Young, Vick, Ormsby, Springer, Stonier, Santos, Macri, Harris-Talley
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House COG on Friday January 22nd
    • Next Step: calendaring by WA House RUL
  • HB 1057 - ‘Clarifying the meaning of the term “enjoyment of life and property” within the clean air act.’
    • Sponsors (6): Pollet, Valdez, Fitzgibbon, Ryu, Ramel, Duerr
    • Last Step: public hearing in WA House ENVI on Tuesday January 12th
    • Next Step: executive session in WA House ENVI
  • HB 1105 - “Concerning arrest protections for the medical use of cannabis.”
    • Sponsors (12): Kloba, Simmons, Fitzgibbon, Dolan, Ortiz-Self, Goodman, Vick, Ormsby, Riccelli, Santos, Macri, Davis
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referred to WA House HCW
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA House HCW
  • HB 1210 - ‘Replacing the term "marijuana" with the term "cannabis" throughout the Revised Code of Washington.’
    • Sponsors (14): Morgan, Peterson, Kloba, J. Johnson, Ryu, Santos, Ortiz-Self, Ormsby, Simmons, Gregerson, Riccelli, Macri, Frame, Harris-Talley
    • Last Step: public hearing in WA House COG on Friday January 22nd
    • Next Step: executive session in WA House COG on Friday January 29th
  • HB 1260 - “Concerning the development of the marijuana market.”
    • Sponsors (2): Wicks, Dolan, Berry, Fitzgibbon, Simmons, Ramel, Ortiz-Self, Bateman, Sells, Lekanoff, Macri (+9)
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA House COG on Monday January 18th
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA House COG
  • NEW HB 1345 - “Concerning the regulation of products sold to adults age 21 and over.”
    • Sponsors (9): Pollet, Cody, Valdez, Orwall, Dolan, Ryu, Lovick, Callan, Frame
    • Companion: SB 5266
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA House COG on Thursday January 21st
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA House COG
  • SB 5004 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical marijuana patients.”
    • Sponsors (8): Keiser, Warnick, Conway, Das, King, Kuderer, Saldaña, C. Wilson
    • Last Step: public hearing in WA Senate WM on Monday January 18th
    • Next Step: executive session in WA Senate WM
    • Following criticism of the original fiscal note generated by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) which projected nearly $10M in revenue loss to the State per biennium, a substantially revised fiscal note was filed on Friday January 22nd which projected a more modest $0.5M cost for not charging registered patients the 37% excise tax for cannabis medicine. During the year 2020 through November, WSLCB reported excise tax collections of $475M from cannabis retail sales, a 27% increase compared to 2019.
  • SB 5035 - “Concerning offender scoring of drug offenses.”
    • Sponsors (18): Dhingra, Nguyen, Billig, Carlyle, Darneille, Das, Hasegawa, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, Mullet, Pedersen, Rolfes, Saldaña, Salomon, Stanford, Wellman, C. Wilson
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA Senate LAW on Monday January 25th
    • Next Step: executive session in WA Senate LAW on Thursday January 28th
  • SB 5129 - “Concerning the possession of vapor, vapor products, tobacco, and tobacco products by minors.”
    • Sponsors (6): Saldaña, Darneille, Nguyen, Nobles, Stanford, C. Wilson
    • Last Step: public hearing in WA Senate HSRR on Thursday January 21st
    • Next Step: executive session in WA Senate HSRR
  • SB 5266 - “Concerning the regulation of products sold to adults age 21 and over.”
  • NEW SB 5327 - “Creating a confidential youth safety and well-being tip line.”
    • Sponsors (7): Brown, Frockt, Lovelett, Rivers, Short, Warnick, Wellman
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate HLTC on Friday January 22nd
    • Next Step: public hearing in WA Senate HLTC - BH on Friday January 29th

Monday January 25th

On Monday at 9am PT, the monthly Department of Ecology (DOE) Cannabis Science Task Force (CSTF) Steering Committee meeting was scheduled to recur.

On Monday at 9:30am PT, the Washington State Senate Law and Justice Committee (WA Senate LAW) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The Committee planned to host a public hearing on SB 5035, “Concerning offender scoring of drug offenses.” According to the Senate Bill Analysis, this legislation would “wash-out” certain felony convictions of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act over time: “Except for the crimes of manufacturing, delivering, or possessing with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, or any comparable out of state conviction, any conviction for a violation of the act, or any comparable out of state conviction, may not be included in the offender score if it has been more than ten years since the entry of judgment and sentence.”

On Monday at 9:30am PT, a Washington State Senate Labor, Commerce, and Tribal Affairs Committee (WA Senate LCTA) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The Committee planned to host an executive session for SB 5266, “Concerning the regulation of products sold to adults age 21 and over.” As the bill was referred to WA Senate LCTA on Monday January 18th and had not been heard, we expect committee members will refer the bill elsewhere - likely the Washington State Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee (WA Senate HLTC).
  • The intent of this bill stated, “the legislature intends to ban the sale of flavored vapor products and enact additional regulatory protections to protect the health of youth and young adults in Washington state.” The definition of “vapor products” explicitly excluded cannabis products.
  • Among many other things, the bill would create new regulatory and enforcement regimes at the WSLCB, impose a 45% excise tax on retail sales, ban all flavors except tobacco, limit nicotine content to 2% by volume, and require ingredient disclosure.
  • A companion bill in the House, HB 1345, was introduced on Friday January 22nd by Representative Gerry Pollet. In November, when the Washington State Board of Health (SBOH) more permanently encoded their vitamin E acetate ban, Pollet dialed in to share his perspective that "many public health professionals applaud the ban" but "feel very strongly that this ban may not go far enough" and cited research raising concerns about terpenes.

On Monday at 2pm PT, the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • WSLCB Director of Licensing Rebecca Smith and Director of Legislative Relations Chris Thompson planned to present a “Policy Briefing” and respond to questions for half of the three hour meeting.
    • The agenda indicated, “This briefing will focus on the transition to recreational cannabis in WA, how LCB prioritized retail licenses, its authority to make changes that could support the Social Equity (SE) program, and more information on the SE program.”
    • The subsequent “question & answer period” would be opened “for Task Force members and the public.”

Tuesday January 26th

The weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus on Tuesday was cancelled.

Thursday January 28th

On Thursday at 10am PT, the monthly WSLCB Marijuana Traceability Project (MTP) Integrator Work Session was scheduled to recur.

On Thursday at 10:30am PT, the WA Senate LAW was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • An executive session for SB 5035 was planned for this meeting following its public hearing on Monday.

On Thursday at 1:30pm PT, the first WSLCB Deliberative Dialogue on the Quality Control (QC) Testing and Product Requirements rulemaking project was scheduled to occur featuring consumer panelists.

  • [ Event Details, Rulemaking Project ]
  • The November public hearing on the QC testing rulemaking project sent agency staff back to the drawing board prompting the Policy and Rules team to deploy a new technique in search of consensus and mutual understanding called deliberative dialogue. Three sessions featuring different panelists and topics will be moderated by Policy and Rules Manager Kathy Hoffman. Public participants were invited to observe and present questions for discussion.

Friday January 29th

On Friday at 9am PT, the Thurston County Superior Court planned to host a hearing on the Todd Brinkmeyer v. WSLCB out-of-state ownership lawsuit.

On Friday at 10am PT, the Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • An executive session was planned on HB 1210, ‘Replacing the term "marijuana" with the term "cannabis" throughout the Revised Code of Washington,’ following its public hearing on Friday January 22nd.

On Friday at 10:30am PT, the Washington State Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee (WA Senate HLTC) Behavioral Health Subcommittee (WA Senate HLTC - BH) planned to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • A public hearing was planned on SB 5327, “Creating a confidential youth safety and well-being tip line.”
  • Section two of the bill text states, “(1) To the extent that funds are appropriated for this purpose, the attorney general shall establish a program for receiving and responding to tips from the public regarding risks or potential risks to the safety or well-being of youth, called the YES tip line program. Risks to safety or well-being may include, but are not limited to, harm or threats of harm to self or others, sexual abuse, assault, rape, bullying or cyberbullying, substance use, and criminal acts” (emphasis Observer).

On Friday at 3:30pm PT, the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs (CAAA) planned to convene.