The Week Ahead
(March 28, 2022)

Credit Card - Pool of Blood

State leaders planned to publicly engage with selected cannabis retail stakeholders to draw attention to the need for federal banking reform to help mitigate robberies before more people were hurt.

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

Monday March 28th

WA SECTF - Work Group - Community Reinvestment - Public Meeting

The Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis Community Reinvestment Work Group (WA SECTF - Work Group - Community Reinvestment) meeting scheduled for Monday was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • On March 24th, staff sent out a message indicating, “In lieu of the March 28th Community Reinvestment & Workforce Training Workgroup, the Co-Leads have designed a survey for Community Member input. The Workgroup will begin assembling a list of trusted Community Organizations for community reinvestment funding. Please take a moment to complete this survey and distribute the link to other interested community members for input. Deadline to participate in the survey is April 5th. The Community Reinvestment & Workforce Training Workgroup will discuss the results of the survey and next steps at the April 14th meeting.”

Tuesday March 29th

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 ]
  • Following the board’s usual proceedings during caucus, agency staff organized a “Cannabis Retail Safety Forum” intended to bring together multiple retail licensees in discussion with state officials on the subject of retail robberies.
    • Last Tuesday, after a week of multiple retail robberies resulting in deaths of staff and suspects, the board talked about the need for federal action and announced the roundtable talk with stakeholders. Later that day, a formal announcement was broadcast and a press release issued indicating, “In the wake of a deadly spate of armed robberies at three cannabis retail stores which resulted in three deaths within four days, the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) will next week host an online roundtable to discuss safety at cannabis retailers. The LCB will meet with cannabis retailers, elected officials, national SAFE Banking Act advocates, and others to discuss this urgent safety crisis.”
    • Last Wednesday, agency staff published an initial version of the agenda for Tuesday’s caucus meeting which listed roundtable participants:
      • Mike Pellicciotti, Washington State Treasurer
        • Last Thursday, Pellicciotti published an opinion-editorial in the Seattle Times titled, “How to stop pot-shop robberies: Allow stores access to banking.”
      • Karen Keiser, Washington State Senator
        • In addition to her roles as Senate President Pro Tempore and chair of the primary cannabis policy committee in the senate, Keiser was the prime sponsor of SB 6033 in 2020 after her son “experienced a really traumatic incident” as a budtender during an “attempted robbery at a retail outlet in the Seattle area.”
      • Sara Eltinge, The Herbery CEO
      • Alden Linn, World of Weed Owner
      • Jenna Rodriguez, Gypsy Greens Owner
        • The Olympia retailer suffered an armed robbery on March 24th.
      • Aaron Varney, Dockside Cannabis Owner
        • Huckleberry Kid, a Dockside budtender, survived being shot multiple times during an attempted robbery and was later interviewed in a feature on “Pot shop robberies.”
      • Michael Correia, National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) Director of Government Relations
      • Rick Garza, LCB Executive Director
      • Chandra Brady, LCB Director of Enforcement and Education
      • Becky Smith, LCB Director of Licensing
      • Sheri Sawyer, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Governor
      • Barbara Serrano, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Governor
    • TVW planned to broadcast the event, which the press release indicated would cover:
      • ​​Perspectives from Michael Correia on national conversations on the SAFE Banking Act;
      • Updates from Treasurer Pellicciotti on his recent lobbying efforts in D.C. to urge Congress to pass the federal SAFE Banking Act;
      • Keiser’s efforts as Chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee work to enact retail safety measures in the state legislature;
      • First-hand experiences and insights of retailers; and
      • LCB Enforcement and Education Division experiences and insights.

Wednesday March 30th

WSLCB - Board Meeting

On Wednesday at 10am PT, the bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was scheduled to recur.

Thursday March 31st

At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.

Friday April 1st

At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.

2022 WA Legislative Session

The short session of the 2021-22 biennium began on January 10th and ended on March 10th.

  • Inactive cannabis-related bills from 2021 were renewed in their house of origin and the House and Senate convened public hearings during the first three weeks of the short session.
  • February 3rd was the first deadline for bills to be recommended out of their house of origin policy committees, followed shortly by a second deadline on February 7th for house of origin fiscal committees to complete their initial work. Legislators and staff heard, amended, and pushed legislation through in advance of the third deadline for (most!) bills to be passed out of their chamber of origin on February 15th at 5pm PT.
  • At the turning point, policy committees took up remaining bills ahead of the February 24th opposite house policy committee cutoff. Fiscal committees began to work budgets before having to move bills over the weekend in advance of the Monday February 28th opposite house fiscal committee cutoff. And Friday March 4th at 5pm PT occasioned the sixth deadline for (most!) bills to be passed by the opposite chamber.
  • In the final week of the short session, legislators devoted the majority of their time to floor debate and negotiation between the chambers. However, some time was spent in last-minute committee hearings and executive sessions to move bills. Sine die, the last day of session, occurred on Thursday March 10th.
  • Washington State Governor Jay Inslee took formal action on very few bills during the session. For legislation received by his office within five days of the end of session, he could sign or partially veto it before it becomes law, or veto it altogether, within 20 days following the end of session.

Cannabis-Related Law (3)

HB 1210 - “Replacing the term ‘marijuana’ with the term ‘cannabis’ throughout the Revised Code of Washington.”

  • [ Legislation ]
  • 🌱⚖️ ‘marijuana’ to ‘cannabis’
  • Sponsors (14): Melanie Morgan, et al
  • Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 7)
  • Last Step: signed by WA Governor (Mar 11)
  • Effective: June 9, 2022; except sections 7, 51, and 116, which take effect July 1, 2022; and additional sections with later effective dates

HB 1859 - “Concerning quality standards for laboratories conducting cannabis analysis.”

  • [ Legislation ]
  • 🔬 Cannabis Testing Labs; WSDA/WSLCB request legislation to shift regulation of labs to the department of agriculture; creation of Interagency Coordination Team (ICT) w/ department of health (DOH)
  • Requested By: WSDA, WSLCB
  • Sponsors (4): Shelley Kloba, Kelly Chambers, et al
  • Companion: SB 5699 (inactive)
  • Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 10)
  • Last Step: bill action by WA Governor (Mar 24)
  • Effective: June 9, 2022

SB 5796 - “Restructuring cannabis revenue appropriations.”

  • [ Legislation ]
  • 💸 Revision of Cannabis Tax Revenue Appropriations; where the money goes
  • Sponsors (5): Rebecca Saldaña, et al
  • Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 11)
  • Last Step: bill action by WA Governor (Mar 24)
  • Effective: June 9, 2022

Budget-Related Legislation - Passed Legislature (1)

SB 5693 - “Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations.”

  • [ Legislation ]
  • 💸 Operating Budget Changes; where the money goes
  • Sponsors (3): Christine Rolfes, Linda Wilson, et al
  • Companion: HB 1816 (divergent)
  • Previous Step: delivered to WA Governor (Mar 11)
  • Next Step: bill action by WA Governor