Washington House Approves Measure to Establish New Residency Requirements for Marijuana Business Owners
Legislation that would establish new residency requirements on marijuana business owners has been given approval by Washington’s full House of Representatives.
House Bill 1151 passed the House today by a vote of 70 to 28. Filed by Representative Sharon Wylie (D) and cosponsored by Representatives Brandon Bick (R) and Brian Blake (D), the measure must now be passed by the state’s Senate before it can be sent to Governor Jay Inslee for consideration.
The proposed law; “Requires that at least 75 percent of the interest in a licensed marijuana business owned by a business or nonprofit entity be held by one or more interest holders who have resided in Washington state for at least six months”, “Requires that all applicants residing out of state must be resident citizens of the United States”, and “Establishes that a manager or agent running a licensed marijuana business need not be a resident of Washington state.
In addition, the bill “Provides the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) with discretionary authority to deny a license if the LCB finds that it is unable to conduct an investigation of a nonresident interest holder in accordance with specified investigatory standards.”
The full text of the measure can be found by clicking here.
