Tag Archives: marijuana

NEWS: Rivers’ pro-business, pro-taxpayer legislation receives Senate approval

OLYMPIA… Two proposals from Sen. Ann Rivers are among the bills approved by the state Senate as Washington’s annual legislative session reached its halfway mark today.

Senate Bill 5163, which has to do with fraud complaints against Medicaid-reimbursed care providers, won unanimous support Tuesday and has already been referred to the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill 5069, which would support Washington’s cannabis industry if the product is legalized at the federal level, moved forward from the Senate today with a solid 40-8 vote.

“Medicaid fraud is an unfortunate fact. In 2012, during my first term as a legislator, we opened a new front in the battle against fraud with a law that enables both the attorney general and private citizens to file complaints against providers when fraud is suspected,” said Rivers, R-La Center, who is Republican leader on the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee.

“A decade later, we know the fraud-complaint law has been tremendously effective. Frivolous complaints have not been a problem, and my bill would update the law to reflect that. It sends a clear message to providers who would consider bilking the system, and taking precious health-care dollars away from patient care: Don’t do it, because we are continuing to empower the citizens of our state to turn you in.”

Rivers’ cannabis legislation builds on the extensive work she did a decade ago to establish policies that fit with the voter-supported legalization of cannabis in 2012. SB 5069 basically authorizes Washington’s governor to enter into agreements with other states regarding commerce in cannabis across state lines.

“The cannabis industry in Washington has steadily grown in importance, in every sense. In the event Congress legalizes cannabis at a federal level, we must have a policy framework in place,” she explained. “Should we see action from the ‘other Washington’ while the Legislature is not in session, the governor would then be able to step in and make sure both Washington’s market and its consumers are protected.

“There’s really nothing unusual about the policy itself, as it could apply to any sector of the economy, but the word ‘cannabis’ still attracts attention.”

Four other Rivers bills were moved forward before Senate-committee deadlines for action on legislation. The full Senate has until March 8 to adopt those measures and keep them in play for the 2023 session.

Where does marijuana revenue go?

I’ve received a number of questions regarding marijuana revenue. I’m sharing a helpful document prepared by the Office of Financial Management that lists how much  marijuana revenue was collected in 2013-15, how much marijuana revenue budget writers can anticipate through 2019 and where it all goes.

IN THE NEWS: Rivers named as part of ‘The Conservatives Winning Year’ by Seattle Magazine

Seattle Magazine recently named their picks for Most Influential People of 2015. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of the Majority Coalition Caucus and my work on education funding reform and harmonizing the competing marijuana markets.

Seattle Magazine

The Conservatives Winning Year
In a divided legislature, the side that wants fewer changes to the status quo wins more battles. And to its advantage, the Senate GOP of the Washington State Legislature had a drastically more limited agenda than the Democrats in the 2015 session. Democrats wanted to tax capital gains, trim tax breaks, raise the minimum wage and seriously flirted with trimming carbon emissions—all of which the Senate GOP opposed with success. Meanwhile, the Senate Republicans’ chief wish was to cut tuition at the state’s colleges, which it accomplished.

The mastermind of the GOP’s success this year was Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, a conservative wheat farmer from Ritzville who never met a tax hike he didn’t hate. Schoesler kept a tight grip on a coalition of hard-core conservatives sprinkled with a half-dozen moderates.

The Senate’s other GOP stars include Andy Hill of Redmond and John Braun of Centralia. The two led the Republicans’ budget-negotiating team, which stuck to its guns in tense budget talks that extended into triple overtime.

Senators Ann Rivers of La Center and Bruce Dammeier of Puyallup worked to shift the state’s school-levy burdens from local districts to the state. This will be the top budget issue of the 2016 legislative session, given that the two parties don’t agree on whether extra revenue will be needed to fully fund schools.

Rivers is the rare non-moderate in the Senate GOP caucus able to shepherd major Senate bills through the Democrat-controlled House, and she led the Senate’s efforts to successfully merge the state’s recreational and medical marijuana system into one network. Given that Dammeier is running for Pierce County executive, Rivers could inherit an even bigger role in this matter next session. If her work this year is any indication, this could prime the GOP for further success in 2016. —John Stang

Posted on October 28, 2015. Edited by Lisa Wogan and Linda Morgan.

The full article can be found here https://www.seattlemag.com/article/seattles-most-influential-people-2015?page=0,3

Rivers’ medical-marijuana bill clears Senate budget committee

The medical-marijuana market in Washington is a step closer to being in line with federal standards after the Senate Ways and Means Committee approved Sen. Ann Rivers’ measure Thursday.

Voters authorized the medical use of cannabis in 1998 with few sideboards; however, the approval of Initiative 502 in 2013 muddied the waters, according to Rivers, noting the U.S. Justice Department issued not one but eight standards to protect against the potential risks of an unregulated Schedule I controlled substance such as marijuana.

“The bill originated out of a concern for patient safety,” said Rivers, R-La Center. “I wanted to get the conversation started last year, but now it’s time to reconcile the two initiatives for medical and recreational cannabis use – especially before the recreational-marijuana retail stores open up, which could be as early as June in Clark County.

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Rivers takes lead to regulate medical marijuana market

OLYMPIA…Marking the recent release of rules from Washington’s Liquor Control Board for the recreational marijuana market, Sen. Ann Rivers is doubling down on her commitment to pass legislation in 2014 that would regulate and license the medical cannabis industry under a separate set of rules from Initiative-502.

“The passage of I-502 created a loophole on a largely unregulated industry,” said Rivers, R-La Center. “Now that the citizens of Washington state have made recreational marijuana use the law of the land, someone needed to step up and create much needed parameters on the medical use side. Many of the rules regarding authorizations need tightening up. Right now minors under the age of 18 can obtain medical cannabis without their parents’ knowledge. To me this is a problem.” Continue reading →