As fiscal committees focused on legislation from the opposite chamber, representatives considered the social equity bill on Thursday and planned to review the revised THC bill Friday.
Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Friday March 31st, the 82nd day of the 2023 Regular Session.
My top 3 takeaways:
- On Thursday March 30th, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) hosted a public hearing on SB 5080, “Expanding and improving the social equity in cannabis program” (audio - 20m, video).
- Positions (testifying + not testifying - duplicates = total)
- PRO: 5 + 24 - 1 = 28
- CON: 0 + 1 - 0 = 1
- OTHER: 2 + 1 - 0 = 3
- After substantial modification at every opportunity along the way, supporters advocated for the legislation to be passed along as-is.
- One testifier signed in “other” to attempt to raise the spectre of qualifications for social equity licensure creating a privileged “class of citizens” running afoul of Article 1 Section 12 of the Washington State Constitution (audio - 1m, video).
- Craft Cannabis Coalition Executive Director Adán Espino, representing the owners of 70 retail stores, continued to seek amendments to the legislation to resist the creation of 52 new retail licenses, more specifically address expected increases in retail density, and include the retail sector in a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) study which had been added to the bill to provide perspective on production levels and market demand (audio - 2m, video).
- Positions (testifying + not testifying - duplicates = total)
- Also on Thursday, the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) agreed to calendar HB 1066, a bill making technical changes to statute which included cannabis provisions.
- The legislation was included in a set of regular package pulls compiled by committee leadership.
- According to the bill report by the Washington State Senate Law and Justice Committee (WA Senate LAW), the legislation ‘replaces instances of the word "marijuana" with "cannabis," in accordance with 2022 legislation, in statutes related to criminal procedure, long-term care worker screening, and business and occupation tax.’
- On Friday March 31st, WA House APP members planned to convene and host a public hearing on SB 5367, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) THC request legislation.
- Access the latest bill text and the bill report on the legislation as amended and recommended by the Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG).
- At publication time, WA House APP members also planned to convene on Saturday April 1st, but no cannabis-related bills had been added to the agenda.
- SB 5546, legislation creating a framework to establish a cannabis commodity commission, was referred to WA House APP on Wednesday March 29th but had not been scheduled for a public hearing.
- At publication time, WA House APP members also planned to convene on Monday April 3rd and Tuesday April 4th—the opposite house fiscal committee gateway—but had not specified which legislation they planned to consider and potentially move.