Washington State Legislature
(WA Legislature)

All three cannabis bills at risk were scheduled for executive sessions before the fiscal committee cutoff on Monday, although two carried potential amendments which could alter their outcomes.

The first cannabis legislation of the session was passed; two bills in fiscal committees were heard and one was advanced regardless of not being heard; and the “potency tax” study was up for a financial review.

Following the latest cutoff, four more cannabis bills were out of the running leaving eight bills active, four of which would require consideration by fiscal committees before Monday February 26th.

Lawmakers rushed to recommend legislation ahead of the cutoff on Wednesday while amending budgets and preparing for fiscal committee work, but four cannabis-related bills would likely not be moved in time.

After undertaking significant activity on cannabis-related bills on Monday, lawmakers lined up executive sessions on a few more bills before the final policy committee deadline on Wednesday.

11 cannabis-related bills remained subject to the next cutoff on Wednesday but the WSLCB data dashboard bill and inversion/diversion legislation were particularly poorly positioned.

Operating budget proposals began to take shape as policy committees considered legislation ahead of the Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff on Wednesday February 21st.

Four cannabis-related bills were heard or advanced on Thursday whereas four others were more clearly withdrawn from consideration as committee schedules for the following week continued to fill out.

After hearing two cannabis bills on Wednesday, lawmakers had increasingly busy calendars on Thursday and through the following mid-week to meet the next policy committee deadline.

Commodity commission legislation was passed by Senators before the House of Origin Cutoff which left 12 cannabis-related bills active as policy committees reformed for the shorter second half of session.