This morning, the House Financial Services Committee approved the SAFE Banking Act (HR 1595), which would smooth pathways for state-legal cannabis companies to access the federally regulated banking industry, in a 45-15 vote.<\/p>\n
The ultimate goal of the bipartisan effort around\u00a0HR 1595<\/a>\u00a0is to provide the most rudimentary banking practices to the rapidly expanding cannabis industry, as both dispensaries and regulators hope to stop dealing with the massive piles of cash cannabis sales produce.<\/p>\n This is the first time ever that a bill designed to provide financial services to the cannabis industry has passed a congressional committee. One would imagine the 152 cosponsors that signed on to Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado\u2019s plan helped push it through.<\/p>\n The way the SAFE Banking Act would accomplish access to banking for cannabis companies is by stopping federal banking regulators from going after banks and credit unions that are providing services to cannabis companies in full compliance with state law. Most of the dispensaries that currently have access to banking services \u2014 and merchant services that let you have things like a credit card machine\u00a0\u2014 are dealing with an array of sketchy folks. These dispensaries have brought every other part of their existence into the light in recent years, and the SAFE Banking Act would not only finish the job but just make life easier.<\/p>\n Congress\u2019s\u00a0Cannabis Caucus<\/a>\u00a0founder and co-chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer applauded the Financial Services Committee\u2019s decision to move the bill forward.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the most significant step we\u2019ve seen so far toward addressing our outdated federal marijuana policies,\u201d Blumenauer said in a press release. \u201cWe\u2019ve actually gone through the process, fully debated, and seen broad bipartisan support. I applaud the outstanding work of Chairwoman Waters and Representatives Heck and Perlmutter for making this possible. The SAFE Banking Act solves a major problem for the state legal cannabis industry and its success moving through the committee is a signal of how we can move forward with other critical proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0Safe and Responsible Banking Alliance<\/a>, which\u00a0calls itself a coalition of financial institutions, associations, governments, and select businesses advocating for a solution to federal cannabis banking prohibitions, also applauded the bill\u2019s progress out of committee. The organization\u2019s president Jack Jacobson said he was glad to see Congress getting with the times.<\/p>\n \u201cThis historic committee vote signals that Congress is starting to catch up with the rest of the country when it comes to recognizing the growth of the legal cannabis and cannabinoid market in the United States,\u201d Jacobson said in a statement released by SARBA. \u201cIn concert with strong state regulations, the SAFE Banking Act is a critical component to eliminating the black market and keeping marijuana out of the wrong hands.\u201d<\/p>\n The Washington, D.C.-based\u00a0Marijuana Policy Project<\/a>\u00a0said it was thrilled to see the progress being made down the street on Capitol Hill. While a lot of people think of various state campaigns to legalize marijuana as the biggest feather\u2019s in the organization\u2019s cap, they\u2019ve been a presence on Capitol Hill for over twenty years.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a historic and critical step forward for the nation\u2019s burgeoning cannabis industry. Lawmakers seem to recognize the urgency and public safety implications of ensuring cannabis businesses can access banking services,\u201d MPP executive director Steve Hawkins said in a statement. \u201cRegardless of where members stand on legalization, they can agree that it is in the public interest to make banking available to cannabis businesses in states where it is legal. We hope the full House will follow the committee\u2019s recommendation and advance this important legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0National Cannabis Industry Association<\/a>\u00a0noted that suggested amendments included having the Government Accountability Office look at the impact of the bill.<\/p>\n \u201cThe SAFE Banking Act would go a long way toward improving safety, transparency, access, and justice in the cannabis industry,\u201d said NCIA\u2019s executive director Aaron Smith in a statement. \u201cThe amendments agreed upon in committee should solidify the already overwhelming support for this legislation in the House. The cannabis and financial services industries have been waiting for clarification and protection for far too long, and we are confident the House would approve this bill if allowed to vote on it without further delay.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US,<\/strong>\u00a0do you think cannabis companies should have clear access to banks?<\/p>\n The post Cannabis Industry Edges One Step Closer To Easy Banking Access<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
This morning, the House Financial Services Committee approved the SAFE Banking Act (HR 1595), which would smooth pathways for state-legal cannabis companies to access the federally regulated banking industry, in a 45-15 vote. The ultimate goal of the bipartisan effort around\u00a0HR 1595\u00a0is to provide the most rudimentary banking practices toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[290,50,459,4573,170,9551,3849,292,1419,9552,7565],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34100"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34101,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34100\/revisions\/34101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What the SAFE Banking Act Would Do for the Cannabis Industry<\/h4>\n
Cannabis Advocates Celebrate Bill\u2019s Progress With Baited Breath<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Cannabis Industry Edges One Step Closer To Easy Banking Access<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"