WA Legislature - Update
(March 14, 2023)

WA Legislature - Update (March 14, 2023) - Takeaways

Representatives got an earful about the WSLCB THC bill on Monday, and planned to take up social equity and pre-employment cannabis testing legislation on Tuesday.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Tuesday March 14th, the 65th day of the 2023 Regular Session.

My top 3 takeaways:

  • As policy committee work on bills from the opposite chamber got underway on Monday March 13th, the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) skipped a planned executive session on the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) subpoena authority bill.
    • During the public hearing on the bill on Thursday March 9th, Representative Kristine Reeves asked whether WSLCB staff, representing a limited law enforcement entity, would deliver any subpoenas themselves. WSLCB Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster could not say and indicated he would follow up (audio < 1m, video).
    • After the staff briefing on Monday, Representative Jim Walsh asked Reeves if she had been satisfied with the response from agency staff about her question. Reeves said she had not been satisfied and planned to discuss the subject with her peers during the upcoming caucus (audio < 1m, video).
    • Members convened in caucus longer than planned and Co-Chair Shelley Kloba returned to say the executive session had been postponed to give members time to “work on some language” (audio - 1m, video).
  • Also on Monday, WA House RSG members heard from a wide range of stakeholders occupying a panoply of positions on SB 5367, the WSLCB THC bill as revised by the Washington State Senate.
    • Positions (testifying + not testifying - duplicates = total)
      • PRO: 9 + 22 - 1 = 20
      • CON: 14 + 26 - 0 = 40
      • OTHER: 4 + 0 - 0 = 4
    • WSLCB agency staff remained bullish on the bill and the underlying principles of protecting consumers, hindering youth access, and curbing the sale of intoxicating compounds outside of the regulated—and taxed—marketplace.
    • Hemp industry advocates showed up forcefully opposed to the anticipated destruction of their sector in Washington state, and Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Legislative Liaison Kelly McLain testified to the likely resulting insolvency of the entire State hemp program if the bill were passed as written.
    • Testing lab representatives testified to the impossibility of achieving analytical certainty that “any THC” was present in products below certain levels of quantification.
    • Public health and prevention advocates for zero THC outside of the regulated marketplace seemed to have acknowledged the analytical conundrum, but didn’t seem overly concerned or remained in denial about how that fact would unravel the appealing simplicity of their position. Several highlighted how much money the State could make from consumers forced to pay a 37% excise tax on CBD products, which they hoped would trickle down via standing appropriations.
    • Cannabis sector representatives understood the tenuousness of the THC limit pendulum swing all the way to zero, and how that would unintentionally sweep up FDA-approved products like hemp hearts, hemp seed oil, and Epidiolex. They also seemed united in their understanding that the bill as written does expand the definition of cannabis products to include synthesized cannabinoids to limit their sale in free markets - yet does not take the extra step to explicitly ban those chemically converted compounds from sale within the 502 marketplace.
    • You can’t please all of the people all of the time, but the WSLCB THC bill as written seems to have managed to upset everyone about many different things - which we hear some regard as a measure of a successful compromise. Perhaps an entirely different, narrower approach would be more effective by targeting the single goal all parties seem to agree on: clearly defining synthesized cannabinoids and prohibiting their manufacture and sale.
  • On Tuesday March 14th, representatives planned to host public hearings on the pre-employment screening bill and WSLCB social equity program legislation.