Attention was fixed on the first cutoff of the regular session of the Washington State Legislature as WSLCB board members planned to consider two petitions for rulemaking.
Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.
Monday January 29th
See our Washington State Legislature Update for details on the four cannabis-related bills scheduled for initial hearings or executive action in House and Senate policy committees on Monday.
WA Senate LAW - Committee Meeting
On Monday at 10:30am PT, the Washington State Senate Law and Justice Committee (WA Senate LAW) was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- Public Hearing
- SB 6133 - “Deterring robberies from cannabis retail establishments.”
WA House RSG - Committee Meeting
On Monday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- Executive Session
Tuesday January 30th
WSLCB - Board Caucus
On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
- While an agenda for the caucus meeting was not available at publication time, it was Cannabis Observer’s understanding that members intended to discuss extending an invitation to Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) staff to present and discuss some of their more recent research.
- At the January 3rd and January 17th meetings, I sought to bring the board’s attention to recent WSIPP research looking at selected measures of high school performance in correlation with proximity to licensed cannabis retailers, and some limitations or confounding factors which hadn’t been considered which the board was well positioned to assist with by providing authoritative data to support more robust research (audio - 4m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting
On Tuesday at 10:30am PT, the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- Executive Session
- SB 5662 - "Creating the cannabis employee job retention act."
- Heard in February 2023, proponents of a 2022 Seattle law on cannabis worker retention policies backed legislation expanding the mandate, but business associations warned against singling out one industry.
- An executive session on the legislation was added on Thursday January 25th after members heard testimony on SB 6007 (“Concerning employment standards for grocery workers”).
- SB 5662 was positioned for consideration immediately after SB 6007 on the meeting agenda.
- SB 6220 - “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
- Heard on Monday January 22nd, testimony on a Senate bill on cannabis concentrates was similar to the House counterpart, HB 2320, but some new points were made after the sponsor raised the specter of Reefer Madness.
- SB 5662 - "Creating the cannabis employee job retention act."
WA Senate LAW - Committee Meeting
On Tuesday at 10:30am PT, the WA Senate LAW was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- Executive Session
- SB 6133 - “Deterring robberies from cannabis retail establishments.”
Wednesday January 31st
WSLCB - Board Meeting
On Wednesday at 10am PT, the bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
- While an agenda was not available at publication time, it was Cannabis Observer’s understanding that two rulemaking petitions were scheduled for consideration by the Board.
- Heavy Metals Testing (mentioned Dec 18, 2023)
- Shared Space and Surveillance (mentioned Dec 18, 2023)
WA Legislature - House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff
On Wednesday, the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) would mark the House of Origin Policy Committee Cutoff.
- [ Cutoff Calendar ]
- The first gateway that most cannabis bills must be shepherded through would occur on Wednesday and was described as the "Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) in house of origin, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.”
- Legislation can be declared "necessary to implement budgets" (NTIB), an informal procedure leadership can exercise around any bill with a fiscal impact. The criteria for NTIB status and the decision making around the designation hadn’t been set in law or rule, allowing for a bypass of the cutoff calendar which is otherwise agreed to by both chambers through the legislative process.
- Finance committees in both chambers had already been convening to consider legislation and would redouble their efforts in the sprint to the House of Origin Finance Committee Cutoff on Monday February 5th.
Thursday February 1st
WA Pharmacy Commission - Public Meeting
On Thursday at 9am PT, the Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (WA Pharmacy Commission) was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- On Friday January 26th, WA Pharmacy Commission staff announced that the weekly legislative review would be incorporated into the Commission’s business meeting on Thursday.
WA House APP - Committee Meeting
On Thursday at 10:30am PT, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- On Saturday January 27th, fiscal committee hearings and executive sessions in the House were added on bills to establish popular control over local cannabis business prohibitions and a shift of responsibility for private testing lab accreditation to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).
- Public Hearing
Friday February 2nd
On Friday, WA House APP was scheduled to convene at 10:30am PT and the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee (WA Senate WM) was scheduled to convene at 1:30pm PT. At publication time, neither committee had included cannabis-related legislation on their agendas for Friday.
WA Pharmacy Commission - Legislative Review
The weekly WA Pharmacy Commission Legislative Review was cancelled.
- [ Event Details ]
Saturday February 3rd
WA Senate WM was scheduled to convene at 9am PT. At publication time, senators had not specified an agenda for Saturday.
WA House APP - Committee Meeting
On Saturday at 9am PT, the WA House APP was scheduled to convene.
- [ Event Details ]
- Executive Session