WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(November 10, 2021) - Legislative Affairs Update

The lobbyist for WSLCB gave an update on staff engagement with lawmakers and progress on two draft bills with associated budget requests being prepared for the governor’s office.

Here are some observations from the Wednesday November 10th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Director of Legislative Relations Chris Thompson talked about presentations to lawmakers by agency leadership in advance of prefiling for the 2022 legislative session.
  • Thompson reviewed the testimony given to members of the Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG) on October 21st by WSLCB representatives and Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) Executive Director Gillian Schauer (audio - 4m).
    • Schauer, who worked as a WSLCB contractor in early 2021, facilitated “information about and analysis...to better inform decision-making and policy development,” on issues like “delta-8 THC, marijuana product potency, impacts on youth consumption, vapor products, consumer safety education, taxes, environmental health and other issues,” according to her Personal Services Contract Exemption Request Form.
  • Thompson then previewed planned presentations for senators on the Washington State Senate Labor, Commerce, and Tribal Affairs Committee (WA Senate LCTA) scheduled for November 15th, saying they’d asked for information on “delta-8[-tetrahydrocannabinol] and other cannabinoids.” He planned to take a “final look” at their materials for the meeting meant to “complement the presentation that Gillian Schauer” would provide. Thompson predicted she’d offer a “national perspective and...public health grounded orientation towards” the topic (audio - 1m).

• Thompson then focused on joint request legislation to be put forward by WSLCB and the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) to form an interagency coordination team (ICT) on cannabis laboratory standards (audio - 1m).
  • The legislation would require staff from WSLCB, the WSDA, and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to cooperate on the ICT, which would be responsible for defining lab standards for subsequent encoding in rule by WSDA policy staff. The joint request would structure the ICT to act as a lab “client,” responsible for deciding criteria to be implemented in a Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) lab accreditation program.
    • The idea emerged from the Cannabis Science Task Force, which last discussed a draft of the request bill on October 1st.
    • WSLCB staff discussed the request bill on June 9th, September 8th, and on October 13th when Thompson reported DOE staff “had some concerns about the initial draft” and officials of the participating agencies had agreed to revisions.
    • Take a look at the corresponding supplemental budget requests for the agencies participating in the ICT:
      • WSLCB Request
      • WSDA Request
      • DOH Request and Financial Calculator
  • Thompson stated that staff were still “working to complete” the request package for the ICT following meetings with the participating agencies along with staff for the governor’s office and Washington State Office of Financial Management (WA OFM). He noted discussions centered on “what we’re saying in our budget requests, as well as revising some text of the bill.”
  • WA OFM staff had advised Thompson and other officials that “the funding for this effort” shouldn’t be “every year, tucked into a back-of-the-budget amendment.” He said the plan would instead be to “regularize” the money by adding it to statutorily required appropriations from the state dedicated marijuana account. Thompson indicated this was “the last area where we’re focusing on.”

• Thompson finally reviewed a second bill being drafted to give WSLCB officials broader authority to regulate cannabinoids beyond delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC).
  • Thompson described the bill to board members on October 13th and mentioned the third bill draft in a presentation to lawmakers on October 21st. Along with the most recent draft a summary of its provisions and a one pager were released.
  • Thompson brought up the proposal, saying staff had been “finalizing a budget request” to assess the costs the agency would incur “on the enforcement side as well as in rulemaking and developing those policies.”
    • Thompson previously asserted there wasn’t a need for “new funding for this” in relation to a previous draft, remarking that staff expected to manage any new work with existing appropriations. A fiscal note would’ve projected “no impact” for WSLCB and sought no funding, he stated. 
  • Thompson added that representatives of the Washington State Patrol (WSP) were “projecting impact for their crime lab work for which they would need new equipment and training and some other things.” This was so the crime lab staff could “test for a wider range of compounds” aside from delta-9-THC, Thompson remarked. Stakeholders were offering input on the third draft of the request bill, he added, expecting that submittal to WA OFM and the governor’s office would occur “next week” (audio - 1m).
  • Board Chair David Postman told Thompson that the board expected to be briefed on the final draft considering the bill had been “evolved as we’ve discussed it.” Thompson said inquiries about the bill had continued to come in “from department of agriculture” and “we haven’t yet completed the work on the budget stuff.” Once that was completed, he expected to return to brief the board “as soon as possible” and prior to clicking “send with anything with OFM” (audio - 1m).
    • At the September EMT meeting, Postman also requested that the Board be kept informed of progress on the bill. At publication time, Thompson was not scheduled to brief the board on November 16th, the board’s only public meeting during the week when Thompson indicated he hoped to finalize the bill package.
  • Board Member Russ Hauge said he’d been “very happy” with the level of information Thompson had offered around the effort. This was “a really busy time,” Hauge added, but Thompson had done a “great job” (audio - <1m).
  • WA Senate LCTA Chair Karen Keiser had to ask directly about the bill during the WSLCB work session on November 15th (audio - 2m).

Information Set