With Democrats in control of the Senate this session, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) doesn\u2019t plan to jeopardize a marijuana legalization bill he\u2019s working on by advancing a more modest cannabis banking measure first.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Ringer that was released on Tuesday, the senator reiterated that he and his colleagues will be \u201cintroducing our bill shortly\u201d to end cannabis prohibition\u2014and he said banking reform legislation that\u2019s been filed will have to wait because \u201cwe\u2019re not going to bargain against ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schumer made a similar point in an interview with Marijuana Moment last month<\/a>, arguing that passing a measure that protects banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses first could jeopardize the chances of advancing comprehensive reform. The thinking is that Republicans and moderate Democrats who are on the fence about a bolder policy change might be less inclined to vote for it if they have an opportunity to pass a more modest bill like the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act instead.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader @SenSchumer<\/a> and @Bakari_Sellers<\/a> discuss the possibility of legalizing marijuana pic.twitter.com\/MWnyFsXiIX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Ringer (@ringer) May 11, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The House has already approved the marijuana banking bill<\/a> this session along largely bipartisan lines.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want a strong, comprehensive bill. We\u2019ll introduce it,\u201d the leader told<\/a> podcast host Bakari Sellers, adding that \u201cthere\u2019s huge support\u201d for legalization, including in conservative states like South Dakota where voters approved a reform initiative last year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to get some support from the right on this as well we hope, and we\u2019re going to push it,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a little while. We\u2019re going to need a mass campaign. But there\u2019s real excitement in the country to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Schumer has been working with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) to draft a legalization bill over the course of the past few months. He\u2019s been making the case for reform everywhere from the Senate floor<\/a> to a cannabis rally in New York City<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beyond ending prohibition, Schumer said the proposal he and his colleagues are working on will \u201censure restorative justice, public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations,\u201d similar to what New York lawmakers sought to accomplish in a legalization bill that\u00a0the governor signed into law late last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n The senator also said last month that the legalization bill they\u2019re working on will be brought to the floor of his chamber \u201csoon.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n He, Wyden and Booker formally started their reform efforts by holding a meeting earlier this year with representatives from a variety of advocacy groups to\u00a0gain feedback on the best approach to the reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n Schumer made a point in March to say that it will specifically seek to restrict the ability of large alcohol and tobacco companies to overtake the industry.<\/p>\n Instead,\u00a0it will prioritize small businesses<\/a>, particularly those owned by people from communities most impacted by prohibition, and focus on \u201cjustice, justice, justice\u2014as well as freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He also urged voters to reach out to their congressional representatives and tell them that \u201cthis is long overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n On the House side, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said recently that he\u00a0plans to reintroduced his legalization bill<\/a>, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which cleared the chamber last year but did not advance in the Senate under GOP control.<\/p>\n Top Connecticut Lawmaker Says Marijuana Legalization Bill Could Get Bumped To Special Session<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Schumer Reiterates That Marijuana Legalization Must Pass Before Cannabis Banking Reform<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
With Democrats in control of the Senate this session, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) doesn\u2019t plan to jeopardize a marijuana legalization bill he\u2019s working on by advancing a more modest cannabis banking measure first. In an interview with The Ringer that was released on Tuesday, the senator reiterated that heContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47636"}],"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\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47637,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47636\/revisions\/47637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Schumer Reiterates That Marijuana Legalization Must Pass Before Cannabis Banking Reform<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"