A bipartisan coalition of two dozen governors is urging congressional leaders to finally enact marijuana banking reform through large-scale defense legislation.<\/p>\n
In a letter sent to top lawmakers in the House and Senate on Tuesday, the state officials said the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act should be attached to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House has already approved its version and included the banking legislation<\/a>, but it\u2019s uncertain if the Senate will follow suit.<\/p>\n Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) led the letter, which is also signed by the governors of 22 other states and territories, along with Washington, D.C.\u2019s mayor.<\/p>\n It states that the SAFE Banking Act \u201cwill allow cannabis businesses to access normal banking services, which will transition fully cash-based cannabis transactions into the financial system where they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThirty-seven states, four U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have passed some form of recreational or medical cannabis legalization measures,\u201d the governors wrote. \u201cMedical and recreational cannabis sales in the U.S. were estimated to total $17.5 billion last year, but because of antiquated federal banking regulations, almost all cannabis transactions are cash-based.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) is the chief sponsor of the House standalone banking bill, which would protect financial institutions that service state-legal marijuana businesses from being penalized by federal regulators. It\u2019s passed the chamber in one form or another five times so far along largely bipartisan lines<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only are cash-only businesses targets for crime, cannabis businesses are further disadvantaged compared to other legal businesses by being unable to open bank accounts or obtain loans at reasonable rates,\u201d the letter states. \u201cThe cannabis industry is legal in some form in the majority of U.S. states and it is too large of a market to be prohibited from banking opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe SAFE Banking Amendment will remedy these harms and help keep communities in our states and territories safe by allowing legitimate and legal cannabis companies to access banking services. Financial institutions will subject the funds and account holders to rigorous anti-money laundering and \u2018Know Your Customer\u2019 requirements that will further help states where cannabis has been made legal to keep bad actors out of the system. The SAFE Banking Amendment will also harmonize federal and state law to ensure that depository institutions that provide banking services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses and ancillary businesses are not penalized.\u201d<\/p>\n But the governors\u2019 call for marijuana banking reform is notable for a few reasons.<\/p>\n First, it\u2019s the latest development in an ongoing debate about cannabis policy priorities in Congress, where some members, particularly in the Senate, have insisted on passing comprehensive legalization first before enacting something that\u2019s viewed as largely favorable to the industry.<\/p>\n Second, the state officials are specifically asking that the reform be included in the NDAA, which is viewed as a potentially more feasible vehicle compared to getting the standalone SAFE Banking Act approved through the Senate.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is championing a legalization bill that\u2019s will be formally introduced soon and strongly favors holistically ending prohibition before putting banking on the floor, has left the door open to approving the more modest policy change through the NDAA<\/a> as long as some social equity components are attached.<\/p>\n The governor of Schumer\u2019s state, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), is among the signatories on the new letter.<\/p>\n \u201cSimply put, this is a public safety issue that Congress has a responsibility to address. The SAFE Banking Act has now passed the U.S. House of Representatives five times but the Senate has never voted on the measure,\u201d the governors wrote. \u201cThe SAFE Banking Act has more bipartisan support than ever before and Congress must take steps to ensure that this measure is included in the final version of the NDAA that goes to President Biden\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, however, there\u2019s some debate among lawmakers and advocates about whether banking should be advanced first before Congress comprehensively ends prohibition and enacts policies that center social justice.<\/p>\n Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who is working alongside Schumer on the legalization bill that\u2019s being finalized, has made clear he intends to put up a fight if the Senate moves to pass the SAFE Banking Act<\/a> first.<\/p>\n Booker\u2019s home state governor, Gov. Phil Murphy (D), also signed the new letter calling for immediate action on cannabis banking.<\/p>\n Other signatories on the letter include the bipartisan governors of Alaska, California, Connecticut, Guam, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Virginia, Washington State and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time for Congress to allow cannabis-related businesses to have better access to the banking system and operate with normal bank accounts,\u201d Polis, the Colorado governor, said in a press release<\/a>. \u201cAfter years of cannabis being legal in a multitude of states, it is long overdue for cannabis businesses to finally financially operate alongside other businesses in the open national banking system.\u201d<\/p>\n A group of small marijuana business owners also recently made the case that the incremental banking policy change could actually help support social equity efforts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rodney Hood, a board member of the National Credit Union Administration,\u00a0wrote in a Marijuana Moment op-ed last month<\/a> that legalization is an inevitability\u2014and it makes the most sense for government agencies to get ahead of the policy change to resolve banking complications now.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, an official with the Internal Revenue Service said last month that the agency would like to \u201cget paid,\u201d<\/a> and it\u2019d help if the marijuana industry had access to banks like companies in other legal markets so they could more easily comply with tax laws.<\/p>\n Federal data shows that\u00a0many financial institutions remain hesitant<\/a>\u00a0to take on cannabis companies as clients, however, which is likely due to the fact that the plant is a strictly controlled substance under federal law.<\/p>\n Read the letter<\/a> from the governors on congressional marijuana banking legislation below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Click to access governors-marijuana-banking-letter.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n Biden Administration Will Keep Denying Public Housing Over Marijuana Despite Congresswoman\u2019s Request<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Two Dozen Governors Call On Congress To Pass Marijuana Banking Reform Through Defense Bill<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A bipartisan coalition of two dozen governors is urging congressional leaders to finally enact marijuana banking reform through large-scale defense legislation. In a letter sent to top lawmakers in the House and Senate on Tuesday, the state officials said the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act should be attachedContinue 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],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51083"}],"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=51083"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51084,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51083\/revisions\/51084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Two Dozen Governors Call On Congress To Pass Marijuana Banking Reform Through Defense Bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"