AN ACT Relating to the creation of a data dashboard to track policies, funding, and program and health outcomes related to the sale, consumption, and use of regulated substances;
Bill Description
Creating a data dashboard to track use of regulated substances.
What this bill does Powered by Legitron
The bill adds a new section to chapter 66.08 RCW requiring "the board," in consultation with the Department of Health, the Health Care Authority, and any other agencies the board deems appropriate, to publish in a conspicuous location on the board's website specified information about each regulated substance (liquor, cannabis, cigarettes, tobacco products, and vapor products), updated at least annually. Required publication items include separate entries for each substance, counts of citations issued annually for specified violations and enforcement compliance rates with personally identifiable information redacted, and tax, fee, and penalty amounts for the most recent fiscal year. The text describes "inversion" and "diversion" for cannabis in neutral terms as movement of cannabis into or out of the regulated cannabis system involving persons licensed under RCW 69.50.325.
The provision permits the board to avoid duplication by linking to information already published on other agencies' websites and requires the board, the Department of Health, and the Health Care Authority to identify and collect, within existing resources, any data that would be required to be published. Implementation and administration by the board and consulted agencies must be done within existing resources; agencies are prohibited from expending funds beyond existing resources for implementation (including hiring new staff, contracting, travel, IT expenditures, and similar costs). If required information is unavailable, the board must report that fact to the appropriate legislative committees.
Affected entities identified include the unspecified "board," the Department of Health, the Health Care Authority, the School Employees' Benefits Board, the Public Employees' Benefits Board, licensees under RCW 69.50.325, state Medicaid, and references to CDC funding benchmarks. The text does not explicitly identify which board is the subject, does not provide an effective date or detailed implementation timeline beyond the annual update requirement, does not specify which legislative committees are "appropriate," and does not define some terms or how metrics such as "compliance rates" or citation counts must be calculated or standardized.
Why it matters Powered by Legitron
If enacted, the measure will require a state "board" to publish, in an obvious place on its website and updated at least once a year, separate information for liquor, cannabis, cigarettes, tobacco products, and vapor products — including enforcement compliance rates, annual counts of citations, most recent fiscal year tax/fee/penalty amounts, and details about cannabis inversion/diversion — with personally identifying information removed. Agencies can link to material already posted elsewhere and must notify legislative committees when required information is unavailable.
Practically, the board, the Department of Health, the Health Care Authority and any other consulted agencies will need to gather and post this information using only their current staff and budgets, so they will likely face added reporting work but no new funding; if they cannot obtain data within existing resources the law does not force them to publish it. This means possible partial or delayed disclosures and greater public visibility and scrutiny for regulated businesses (especially cannabis licensees), while the exact timing, which board is responsible, which legislative committees get notices, and how key metrics are defined remain unclear.