{"id":54732,"date":"2022-05-12T08:50:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T16:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/05\/12\/congressional-lawmakers-push-for-marijuana-banking-at-first-conference-meeting-on-large-scale-manufacturing-bill\/"},"modified":"2022-05-14T05:47:17","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T13:47:17","slug":"congressional-lawmakers-push-for-marijuana-banking-at-first-conference-meeting-on-large-scale-manufacturing-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/05\/12\/congressional-lawmakers-push-for-marijuana-banking-at-first-conference-meeting-on-large-scale-manufacturing-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressional Lawmakers Push For Marijuana Banking At First Conference Meeting On Large-Scale Manufacturing Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

A bicameral congressional conference committee tasked with settling differences on a large-scale manufacturing bill kicked off negotiations on Thursday\u2014and several appointed conferees from the House and Senate took the opportunity to push for marijuana banking reform as part of the package.<\/p>\n

At least seven members made a point to raise the cannabis issue as part of the discussion on the AMERICA Competes Act\u2014most of them in a supportive way. That includes the conference committee co-chair, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA).<\/p>\n

Conferees emphasized the need to give state-legal marijuana businesses access to traditional financial services as a public safety imperative that could also bolster the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Congress has a chance to deal with several longstanding policy challenges,\u201d Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said. That includes \u201cproviding cannabis businesses with access to banking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critical that the SAFE Banking Act be retained,\u201d the congressman said, adding that there were three people killed in the chairwoman\u2019s home state of Washington in the span of one week in incidents targeting marijuana businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SAFE Banking Act is an issue of public and worker safety,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s passed the House six times. I hope we work together to retain it it because it is a matter of life and death.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee and\u00a0previously listed marijuana banking as a legislative priority<\/a> ahead of the conference, said that \u201cbipartisan House support for the SAFE Banking Act is evident in its inclusion in America COMPETES, and I urge my fellow conferees to support its inclusion in the final conference report.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chairwoman @RepMaxineWaters<\/a> Delivers Statement at First Conference Committee Meeting on the America #COMPETESACT<\/a> | https:\/\/t.co\/eIbaGMZc2O<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/B3M92FJ6Ed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 U.S. House Committee on Financial Services (@FSCDems) May 12, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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While the House included the marijuana banking proposal in its version of the AMERICA Competes Act, the language was stripped in the Senate. Still, nearly a quarter of all senators sent a bipartisan letter on Thursday urging that cannabis banking be included in the final bill<\/a>\u2014and there are certain champions of the issue who have been appointed to the conference to negotiate the bill.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), for his part, said on Thursday that the manufacturing legislation represents \u201ca rare opportunity to reinvigorate our economy and cut the red tape that has been holding back American innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It could do that, in part, by \u201cmodernizing our banking laws so that the cannabis industry isn\u2019t operating in the all-cash darkness,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n

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The cannabis industry is cash-only right now, creating a safety risk for employees, businesses, and communities.<\/p>\n

We’re fighting to include our SAFE Banking Act in the Bipartisan Innovation and Competition Bill to help reduce these cash-motivated crimes.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Senator John Hickenlooper (@SenatorHick) May 12, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The third-highest-ranking Democratic member in the Senate, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), has taken special interest in marijuana banking reform<\/a>, describing it as a priority of hers as an appointed member on the bicameral conference committee.<\/p>\n

She said on Thursday that she hopes \u201cwe can all come to an agreement to keep SAFE Banking in our final bill so that cannabis stores in states like mine do not have to operate entirely in cash.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really a straightforward bipartisan solution to a real public safety threat that I strongly believe that we should all be able to agree on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) also weighed in on the issue, stressing the \u201cimportance of keeping the provisions of the SAFE Banking Act in the final version of this bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike Washington, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has also legalized the sale of marijuana for some purposes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cantwell, the chair of the conference committee, recognized that \u201cseveral members have mentioned the SAFE Banking Act as part of their testimony today, so we appreciate that very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

One conferee, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), voiced opposition to the SAFE Banking Act\u2019s inclusion in the manufacturing bill, saying that the \u201cvast majority of the House\u2019s version\u201d of the overall legislation doesn\u2019t relate to making the U.S. competitive with China in the global economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne provision provides cannabis businesses that legally operate in the state [with] access to the banking system,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat does it have to do with China?\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite continually passing though the House, the Senate has been reluctant to advance the measure under Democratic and Republican control. Current Senate leadership has insisted on passing comprehensive legalization legislation first before the cannabis banking bill.<\/p>\n

A top aide for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is working to finalize his own legalization bill, recently tempered expectations about\u00a0the prospects of moving marijuana banking<\/a>\u00a0through the America COMPETES Act.<\/p>\n

The standalone Senate version of the SAFE Banking Act currently has 42 cosponsors, including nine Republicans.<\/p>\n

That reluctance on the Senate side was also the\u00a0subject of a letter<\/a>\u00a0that SAFE Banking Act sponsor Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) sent to leadership last month.<\/p>\n

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Thank you to my many colleagues who voiced support for #SAFEBanking<\/a> during today’s Conference Committee of the Bipartisan Innovation & Competitiveness bill. Thank you for your continued advocacy and work to include the #SAFEBankingAct<\/a> in the final package. https:\/\/t.co\/RLcOPALzhS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rep. Ed Perlmutter (@RepPerlmutter) May 12, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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In a previous statement to Marijuana Moment, Perlmutter pointed out that \u201cmore than two-thirds of the conferees have already voted for or cosponsored the SAFE Banking Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The congressman has even made a point to talk about enacting the reform legislation\u00a0during committee hearings on ostensibly unrelated or wider-ranging legislation<\/a>, like at a recent House Rules Committee hearing.<\/p>\n

Despite recently\u00a0saying that he\u2019s \u201cconfident\u201d that the Senate will take up his bill<\/a>\u00a0this session, Perlmutter recognized that while he\u2019s supportive of revisions related to criminal justice reform, taxation, research and other issues, he knows that \u201cas we expand this thing, then we start losing votes, particularly Republican votes and we got enough votes in the Senate to do it\u201d as is.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the governor, attorney general and other top officials in Washington State\u00a0sent a letter to congressional leaders<\/a>\u00a0last week, again emphasizing the urgent need to pass marijuana banking reform as a public safety imperative.<\/p>\n

Separately, Washington State officials also\u00a0recently held a virtual roundtable<\/a>\u00a0to address the spate of deadly robberies targeting marijuana retailers, with regulators reiterating their call for a federal policy change and discussing steps the state can take on its own while Congress fails to act.<\/p>\n

Washington State\u2019s treasurer has been especially vocal about the need for congressional reform, and he\u00a0wrote in a recent letter to his colleagues<\/a>\u00a0in other states that it\u2019s \u201cjust not safe to have this financial volume in cash.\u201d<\/p>\n

He made similar remarks at a\u00a0recent conference of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST)<\/a>. And Colorado Treasurer Dave Young\u00a0echoed that sentiment in a recent interview<\/a>\u00a0with Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n

In the absence of congressional action, more states are moving to enact marijuana banking reform policies on their own. For example, Pennsylvania House lawmakers filed a companion bill to a Senate-passed measure late last month that would\u00a0provide banking protections and tax relief for marijuana businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the number of banks that report working with marijuana businesses\u00a0ticked up again near the end of 2021<\/a>, according to recently released federal data.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear if the increase is related to congressional moves to pass a bipartisan cannabis banking reform bill, but the figures from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) signal that financial institutions continue to feel more comfortable servicing businesses in state-legal markets.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans are scratching their heads about how Democrats have so far failed to pass the modest banking reform with majorities in both chambers and control of the White House, too. For example, Rep. Rand Paul (R-KY)\u00a0criticized his Democratic colleagues over the issue<\/a>\u00a0in December.<\/p>\n

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South Carolina Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill Suffers Another Procedural Defeat<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Congressional Lawmakers Push For Marijuana Banking At First Conference Meeting On Large-Scale Manufacturing Bill<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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