Marijuana Moment reports
Banking associations representing all 50 states and one U.S. territory sent a letter to Senate leaders on Thursday, imploring them to include marijuana banking reform in a large-scale manufacturing bill that’s heading to bicameral conference.
ABA and SBA Letter to the Senate Support SAFE Banking in America COMPETES Act 04282022The American Bankers Association (ABA) and the state associations said that the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act is an “urgently needed, and widely supported, bipartisan legislative solution to allow banks to handle the proceeds from state-licensed cannabis businesses and the accountants, skilled trades, landlords, law firms, and other service providers they rely upon for legal operations.”
New – ABA + 51 state bankers associations ask @SenateDems @SenateGOP @SenateBanking @BankingGOP leaders to include "widely supported, bipartisan" #SAFEBanking Act in COMPETES Act so cannabis businesses can access banking in states where cannabis is legal: https://t.co/R3QulFVn8L
— American Bankers Association (@ABABankers) April 28, 2022
The House included the reform in its version of the America COMPETES Act, marking the sixth time that the chamber has advanced the legislation, but the provision was stripped in the Senate.
Now advocates and stakeholders are stepping up their push to get the language attached to the final package, and key lawmakers in both chambers have signaled that they would be working to achieve that.
The banking groups wrote that the current lack of banking access for cannabis businesses means that the “industry is operating primarily in cash, which causes significant public safety concerns and undermines the ability of cannabis regulators, tax collectors, law enforcement and national security organizations to monitor the industry effectively.”
“The SAFE Banking Act is a narrowly tailored solution designed to bring this growing industry into the regulated banking system and provide much-needed visibility into its financial activity,” the letter says, adding that the measure would promote transparency and improve tax collection.
“The inability of the state-licensed cannabis industry to access safe and regulated financial services is a pressing concern for so many of our nation’s communities and the banks that serve them. With state-licensed cannabis businesses currently operating in 37 states and more states weighing legalization, we urge you to include the SAFE Banking Act in the compromise version of the COMPETES Act to address these critical issues as quickly as possible.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a longstanding champion for cannabis reform who was appointed to serve as a conferee on the America COMPETES Act, sent a separate letter on the issue to House and Senate leadership this week alongside alongside SAFE Banking sponsor Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO).
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