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Two key senators behind the push for a bipartisan marijuana banking bill seem to be at odds over what it\u2019s going to take to get a committee vote to send the legislation to the floor. And as time runs short for action in the summer session, a senior GOP staffer tells Marijuana Moment that the key remaining contention is over a single section of the measure that certain Democrats are seeking to amend, which Republicans view as a \u201cnon-starter.\u201d<\/p>\n
In interviews this week, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and lead GOP Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act sponsor Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) shared conflicting stories about the state of negotiations over the legislation.<\/p>\n
Brown told Politico that he\u2019s entrusting Daines to shore up more Republican support and specifically get additional members of his caucus to sign onto the SAFE Banking Act as cosponsors to codify that support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to take a bill to the floor and have [Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)] undercut it with 58 or 59 votes,\u201d Brown said<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s done that many times. So, we want Daines\u2026to sign on the dotted line on this and really commit to get members to co-sponsor. If they\u2019re serious, they co-sponsor.\u201d<\/p>\n But according to Daines, the issue isn\u2019t a lack of Republican support; it\u2019s the fact that Democratic members are pushing for amendments that would break the agreement that the he and the chairman made over the measure as introduced.<\/p>\n Daines told Punchbowl News that Republicans are \u201cready to move forward\u201d on the bill, but Democrats \u201care trying to change it.\u201d He added that he didn\u2019t \u201csee positive yardage\u201d in bipartisan negotiations over the recent Fourth of July recess.<\/p>\n A senior GOP Senate aide, meanwhile, told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday that the remaining issue comes down to Section 10 of the SAFE Banking Act<\/a>. Democrats like Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) have called the language problematic, arguing that it would broadly undermine banking regulations outside of the cannabis sector.<\/p>\n \u201cReed\u2019s Section 10 concerns are the main issue holding up the bill,\u201d the staffer said, adding that \u201cgutting the section is a non-starter for Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown, meanwhile, called the section \u201ca concern, and Jack is very much a straight shooter in this as he is everything else. We\u2019ve got to work it out.\u201d<\/p>\n But conservative members support the section, and eliminating it could jeopardize some of the bipartisanship behind the bill as introduced.<\/p>\n Telephone Tuesday: Sherrod Brown told Politico he’s waiting on Steve Daines to secure GOP support before moving ahead on SAFE Banking.<\/p>\n Daines told us the ball didn’t move over July break and issues remain <\/p>\n weeeeee https:\/\/t.co\/G4oXf4Fflm<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ZTENV5KcmW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Brendan Pedersen Daines has also cautioned against attempting to expand the measure with social justice reforms that progressives would like to add, though his office previously told Marijuana Moment that the senator is \u201copen\u201d to adding expungements language<\/a>, as proposed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).<\/p>\n In any case, the window to schedule a summer markup in the Senate Banking Committee, where the bill received an initial hearing in May, is gradually closing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Committee is working towards a markup vote on the SAFE Banking Act,\u201d a spokesperson for Brown said in a statement to Marijuana Moment on Wednesday. \u201cSenator Brown remains committed to working with Banking and Housing Committee members on both sides of the aisle to find a path forward for SAFE Banking and other committee priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n Daines\u2019s office told Politico that \u201cSenator Daines and Chairman Brown had an agreement when he reintroduced the bill and now Democrats are demanding changes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have enough Republican votes to get it passed but Democrats keep moving the goalposts,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n In a Dear Colleague letter that was distributed on Sunday, Schumer said that advancing SAFE Banking remains a legislative priority<\/a>, but he also acknowledged that getting the job done \u201cwill not be easy\u201d and require GOP buy-in.<\/p>\n Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), meanwhile, said on Monday that the majority leader\u2019s summer agenda is too ambitious<\/a>, and he expressed serious doubts that marijuana banking\u2014among a list of other legislative items that Schumer identified in the letter\u2014will advance in the summer session.<\/p>\n \u2014 For what it\u2019s worth, Schumer also\u00a0recently spoke with a cannabis industry leader<\/a>\u00a0who approached him at an unrelated event last month, and according to that entrepreneur, the Senate leader is feeling \u201cconfident\u201d about the prospects of passing the cannabis banking bill.<\/p>\n Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), for his part, said last month that he\u2019s a \u201cyes\u201d on the legislation<\/a>. He just doubts that Democratic leadership will follow through on their pledge to get the job done this year.<\/p>\n As its currently drafted, the measure would protect banks and credit unions, as well as depository institutions, from being penalized by federal regulators for working with state-licensed cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n Others have also floated other changes that they\u2019d like to see incorporated into the cannabis bill such as expanding protections to free up marijuana industry access to all forms of financial services, including\u00a0representation on major U.S. stock exchanges<\/a>.<\/p>\n That request has\u00a0faced some criticism from other advocates who say that would be an inappropriate move to help businesses while efforts to legalize marijuana stall in Congress.<\/p>\n A major cannabis lobbying firm apologized in May after sending a letter to Senate Banking Committee leadership concerning the banking bill\u00a0that contained \u201cinappropriate\u201d references<\/a>\u00a0to investments from China in a \u201cmisguided attempt\u201d to push for amendments expanding the legislation.<\/p>\n Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) also recently said that\u00a0she wanted the SAFE Banking Act to pass with an amendment<\/a>\u00a0allowing cannabis businesses to access federal Small Business Administration (SBA) services.<\/p>\n In April, Schumer said that he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d that a so-called SAFE Plus package of cannabis reform legislation didn\u2019t advance last year, saying \u201cwe came close,\u201d but \u201cwe ran into opposition in the last minute.\u201d He said\u00a0lawmakers will continue to \u201cwork in a bipartisan way\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to get the job done.<\/p>\n The majority leader has been\u00a0holding meetings with Democratic<\/a>\u00a0and Republican members<\/a>\u00a0in the early months of the new Congress to discuss cannabis reform proposals that might have bipartisan buy-in this year.<\/p>\n Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said recently that lawmakers are\u00a0working to \u201cresurrect\u201d the cannabis reform package<\/a>, acknowledging that failure to advance a banking fix for the industry \u201cliterally means that hundreds of businesses go out of business.<\/p>\n Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who is a lead sponsor of the House version of the SAFE Banking Act, said at a recent press briefing that thinks it\u2019s important that advocates and lawmakers align on any incremental proposals to end the drug war,\u00a0warning against an \u201call-or-nothing\u201d mentality<\/a>.<\/p>\n The American Bankers Association (ABA) also\u00a0recently renewed its call for the passage<\/a>\u00a0of the legislation. And all 50 of its state chapters did the same, as did insurance and union organizations,\u00a0in recent letters to congressional leadership<\/a>.<\/p>\n Monday also marked the 10-year anniversary since the introduction<\/a> of the first version of what is now known as the SAFE Banking Act.<\/p>\n Bipartisan Lawmakers Push For Marijuana And Psychedelics Amendments To Defense Bill, But Committee Action Is Delayed<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Senate GOP Marijuana Banking Sponsor And Key Chairman At Odds Over Next Steps For SAFE Banking Bill<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Two key senators behind the push for a bipartisan marijuana banking bill seem to be at odds over what it\u2019s going to take to get a committee vote to send the legislation to the floor. And as time runs short for action in the summer session, a senior GOP stafferContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":66717,"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\/66716"}],"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=66716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66718,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66716\/revisions\/66718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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(@BrendanPedersen) July 11, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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\nRead More: Senate GOP Marijuana Banking Sponsor And Key Chairman At Odds Over Next Steps For SAFE Banking Bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"