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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sharply criticized Democrats on Tuesday for seeking to include marijuana banking reform and other \u201cpet priorities\u201d in a large-scale defense bill. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) replied later in the day that the issue is a \u201cpriority\u201d that he will continue to work to advance in some form.<\/p>\n
While the text of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has not yet been posted, Schumer and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have been pushing to include language from the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, and possibly additional cannabis reforms.<\/p>\n
McConnell said Democrats should have used their majorities to move that legislation on a standalone basis outside of the defense legislation if they wished to enact it.<\/p>\n
Disagreements over other, unrelated provisions of the NDAA caused the House Rules Committee to delay consideration on Monday<\/a>. It\u2019s unclear when the final text will be released.<\/p>\n \u201cHouse and Senate Democrats are still obstructing efforts to close out the NDAA by trying to jam in unrelated items with no relationship whatsoever to defense,\u201d McConnell said on the floor on Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about a grab bag of miscellaneous pet priorities\u2014making our financial system more sympathetic to illegal drugs or the phony, partisan permitting reform and name-only language that\u2019s already failed to pass the Senate earlier this year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf Democrats wanted these controversial items so badly, they had two years to move them across the floor,\u201d he said. \u201cHeck, they could have scheduled those matters for votes this week. But no, we\u2019re doing more mid-level nominations, while Democrats keep threatening to take our Armed Forces hostage over those extraneous matters.\u201d<\/p>\n A separate post<\/a> on Senate Republicans\u2019 website called out Schumer for \u201ctrying to bog the bill down with Democrats\u2019 obsession over marijuana policy.\u201d<\/p>\n McConnell has consistently called out Democrats for pursuing modest cannabis reform as part of broader legislation<\/a>, including earlier this year when SAFE Banking was attached to the House version of the America COMPETES Act.<\/p>\n Hours after McConnell\u2019s floor speech, Schumer spoke at a press briefing and was asked about the minority leader\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is something, again, that\u2019s had bipartisan support. We\u2019ve been working with Republicans. It\u2019s a priority for me,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cI\u2019d like to get it done. We\u2019ll try to discuss the best way to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, details about the so-called SAFE Plus package that lawmakers have been negotiating are emerging, including the potential inclusion of language on gun rights for marijuana consumers. The cannabis reforms could still make it into NDAA, or be advanced through separate omnibus appropriations legislation, or even as a standalone, before the end of the year.<\/p>\n \u2014 Talks over the cannabis deal have been intensifying in recent weeks, and they were complicated in part by a Justice Department memo to senators outlining concerns about marijuana banking reform that sources told Marijuana Moment have since been resolved. Key GOP senators met with DOJ to discuss the issues on Monday, Politico reported.<\/p>\n The House already approved its version of the defense legislation earlier this year, with the language of the SAFE Banking Act included, but it was uncertain whether the Senate would go along with it, especially amid calls for more comprehensive reform.<\/p>\n NDAA is now being pursued through a separate, unrelated legislative vehicle that was already passed by the Senate, which previously refused to sign off on passing cannabis banking reform as part of the prior year\u2019s bill in 2021\u2014but the political dynamics have shifted considerably since then.<\/p>\n McConnell to Democrats: Stop Delaying NDAA Over \u201cMiscellaneous Pet Priorities\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/mplypT5p5j<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senator McConnell Press (@McConnellPress) December 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Schumer has dedicated significant time to negotiations over SAFE Plus, and the fact that Republicans reclaimed the majority in the House<\/a>\u00a0following last month\u2019s elections added urgency to advancing some kind of cannabis reform during the lame duck session.<\/p>\n The expectation is that SAFE Plus, in whatever form it is ultimately introduced, will include the SAFE Banking Act, which provides protections for financial institutions that work with state-legal marijuana businesses, and the bipartisan Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act, which would incentivize state-level cannabis expungements.<\/p>\n Sources have been telling Marijuana Moment for the past several months that lawmakers have been discussing adding in language to\u00a0protect Second Amendment rights for cannabis consumers<\/a>\u00a0by exempting people in legalized states from a federal restriction that bars any \u201cunlawful user\u201d of a controlled substance from owning a firearm. Politico\u00a0reported\u00a0on Monday that the current negotiated package does, in fact, include the Gun Rights And Marijuana Act (GRAM) Act.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, at the request of certain Senate offices, the Justice Department\u00a0wrote a recently disclosed memo earlier this year<\/a>\u00a0outlining areas of the SAFE Banking Act that it identified as potentially problematic. While Senate sources said that those issues have been fixed in the latest language, some GOP senators arranged a meeting with DOJ on Monday to go over the concerns.<\/p>\n Those lawmakers who met with department officials were Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA),\u00a0according\u00a0to Politico.<\/p>\n Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), the House sponsor of the SAFE Banking Act, said last week that he sees\u00a0signs that the Senate will finally act<\/a>\u00a0on the legislation during the lame duck session\u2014but he cautioned that he\u2019s \u201cbeen disappointed before.\u201d<\/p>\n Schumer recently met with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and bipartisan lead SAFE Banking Act sponsors Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT). He had a follow-up conversation with Daines last week, and the Republican senator told Politico that those talks have been \u201cproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n Daines said that senators have been specifically addressing \u201cquestions [around] fairness, as it relates to income qualifications for a mortgage and so forth\u201d to protect workers in the cannabis industry from being denied financial services as a result of their employment. The senator would \u201clike to see some of those changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For his part, Brown said more recently that he had hoped the banking reform legislation would be included as an amendment to NDAA. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a proponent of ending prohibition, also told Politico that he believes there\u2019s enough support for the SAFE Banking Act, \u201ceven as a standalone.\u201d<\/p>\n Schumer had said in October\u00a0that Congress was getting \u201cvery close\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to introducing and passing the marijuana banking and expungements bill, citing progress he\u2019s made in discussions with a \u201cbunch of Republican senators.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), meanwhile, said following the election that Democrats who want to enact cannabis reform\u00a0must either do it \u201cnow\u201d during the lame duck session<\/a>\u00a0or wait until \u201cmany years from now\u201d when his party has a shot at controlling Congress again.<\/p>\n Booker previously opposed moving marijuana banking reform before Congress effectively ended prohibition with an eye toward equity. But he softened his position in recent months, becoming increasingly open to moving the incremental legislation.<\/p>\n For some advocates, support for the so-called \u201cSAFE Plus\u201d package will be largely contingent on the details of changes to the banking language, as they\u2019re discontent with the current provisions that have passed the House in some form seven times now.<\/p>\n Specifically, they\u2019d like to see the bill amended to provide funding for Minority Deposit Institutions (MDIs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that lend commercial loans to minority-owned businesses.<\/p>\n They\u2019re further called for changes to require banks that work with the cannabis industry to demonstrate non-discrimination in lending, as Supernova Women Executive Director Amber Senter\u00a0wrote in a recent op-ed for Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n These amendments align with some of the SAFE Banking Act recommendations that Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC)\u00a0outlined in a paper sent to legislative leaders<\/a>\u00a0in August.<\/p>\n The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), meanwhile, sent a letter to Senate leadership last week,\u00a0calling for a floor vote on the SAFE Banking Act<\/a>\u00a0\u201cwithout further delay\u201d by the year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n \u201cThis legislation enjoys strong, bipartisan support, would resolve a conflict between state and federal law, and addresses a critical public safety concern,\u201d ICBA, which\u00a0commissioned a poll demonstrating that support<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year, said. \u201cWe urge its enactment without further delay.\u201d<\/p>\n Another poll released last week found that three in four American voters\u2014including bipartisan majorities\u2014support ending federal marijuana prohibition<\/a>, expunging prior convictions and allowing banks to work with state-legal cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n Oregon Governor Says Her Mass Marijuana Pardons Are \u2018Truly An Act Of Mercy\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo element courtesy of Gage Skidmore<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post McConnell Blasts Democrats Over Plans To Add Marijuana Banking To Defense Bill, While Schumer Defends It As \u2018Priority\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sharply criticized Democrats on Tuesday for seeking to include marijuana banking reform and other \u201cpet priorities\u201d in a large-scale defense bill. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) replied later in the day that the issue is a \u201cpriority\u201d that he will continue to work toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":59004,"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\/59003"}],"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=59003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59005,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59003\/revisions\/59005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nRead More: McConnell Blasts Democrats Over Plans To Add Marijuana Banking To Defense Bill, While Schumer Defends It As \u2018Priority\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"