Be Ready, Go Early, Be Late, Go Home
There are a couple of old lobbying adages. One is that a long session doesn’t even get started until Valentine’s Day and a short session starts on Thanksgiving. The other is, a bill is prefiled because it either will take a lot of work and they want to get started early, or it is prefiled because it is ready and all the work has been completed during the interim. Both are true, and so is anything in the middle. Remember, it’s the legislature.
More Important Is What Is Not There
None of the bills prefiled so far address the very important suggestions coming from the Washington Liquor Board’s budget mandated study to “clean up” Medical Marijuana, MMJ. We guess the legislature and the LCB need more time to decide if MMJ is actually a medicine.
The Three So Far
Three bills have been filed before the session even starts. It’s a courtesy so some of the paper work can get started.
HB 2116
Representative Sherry Appleton, (D) Poulsbo, has introduced a bill, HB 2116 that clarifies penalties for possession of 40 grams or less of cannabis, and rearranges the penalties for possession to a misdemeanor. See the bill here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/2116.pdf
SB 5995
Senate Bill 5995, by Senator Hasegawa, (D) Seattle, is not technically a state bank for servicing cannabis businesses, but it does set up a work-around kind of trust. This will be interesting. The good Senator has been trying to help out on finance issues for cannabis for sometime, and has even longer thought a state bank would be a good way to do it. Bill here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5955.pdf
SB 5966
Senator Padden, (R) Spokane, has dropped in a bill similar to an effort last session. SB 5966 clarifies that as part of a judge’s sentencing for certain crimes, the judge may require that the offender not use cannabis or other substances, and may not have equipment for using same. Bill here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5966.pdf
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