Washington State House Appropriations Committee
(WA House APP)

Supportive testimony on a bill to legalize home cultivation of cannabis highlighted the restrictions in the bill, though two speakers were opposed on safety and youth access grounds.

Interstate commerce was moved to the Senate floor, the policy committee in the senate planned to take action, two bills were set for introduction, and next week’s schedule was announced.

Work group members organized a presentation on the policy history and state arrest data related to residential home grows before drafting a recommendation to the task force.

The Governor shared his thoughts on the supplemental budget before signing it; the measure created two hemp task forces, a community reinvestment fund, and other cannabis-centric changes.

Staff briefed on a bill with complex changes to recommended cannabis tax appropriations before testimony emphasized benefits for transparency, social equity, and local governments.

Four synthesized cannabinoid regulation bills had been introduced after cutoff, cannabis-related amendments were in the operating budget, and new QC rules were imminent.

The agency’s top lobbyist reviewed legislative activity, diving deeper into a new cannabinoid regulation bill and work to salvage components of unsuccessful social equity legislation.

As the timeline for legislation became more compressed, committees crammed bills for action - while the WSLCB cannabinoid regulation bill was granted a second chance to NTIB.

After the failure of several minority caucus amendments on the social equity bill, some members raised doubts about increasing cannabis licensure leading to narrow passage out of committee.

A definition of ‘impairing’ was added to legislation on cannabinoid regulation along with legislative oversight of WSLCB rulemaking before members recommended the bill be advanced.