Legislation requiring cities to get voter approval before they can place prohibitions on marijuana businesses will receive a public hearing tomorrow in the Washington State Legislature.
House Bill 1650 will receive a public hearing at 4:00PM in the House Committee on Regulated Substances & Gaming. The measure was approved through the committee last February by a vote of 6 to 5, but it didn’t advance any further in the House of Representatives prior to the end of last year’s legislative session.
The proposed law would “ban local governments from prohibiting cannabis retail businesses in their jurisdiction after July 1, 2027, unless a majority of voters in the jurisdiction voting in a general election vote to approve an ordinance prohibiting cannabis retailers.”
The measure “Establishes state preemption of the regulation of cannabis retail businesses except for the authorization for voter-approved bans.”
The proposal specifies:
Until July 1, 2032, an amount equivalent to the total cannabis excise taxes generated by retail outlets in cities, towns, and counties that, on the effective date of the act, have a ban or moratorium on the operation or siting of cannabis retailers and have no cannabis retailers operating in their jurisdiction, and that, after the effective date of the act, authorize cannabis retail activity, must be disbursed annually as follows: (1) 50 percent of funds must be used to support substance abuse disorder prevention treatment services including development of best practices for programs and services; and (2) 50 percent of funds must be used for cannabis research including research conducted by the University of Washington and Washington State University.
For the full text of House Bill 165, filed by State Representatives Sharon Wylie and Shelley Kloba, click here.
