![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-21.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
A revised bipartisan marijuana banking bill has officially been filed in the Senate, one week before a key committee is scheduled to vote on the legislation. But its prospects in the GOP-controlled House remain uncertain, with a key committee chairman declining to say whether he\u2019d take up the legislation if it crosses over to his chamber.<\/p>\n
The renamed Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT), was introduced on Wednesday\u2014one day after Marijuana Moment first reported on the finalized language<\/a>.<\/p>\n The amended bill is the product of months of negotiations as senators worked to build bipartisan buy-in and get it in passable form. It\u2019s set to receive a markup in the Senate Banking Committee on September 27<\/a>. After that point, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Tuesday he intends to \u201cbring it to the floor with all due speed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In a joint statement shared with Marijuana Moment on Wednesday, Schumer, Merkley, Daines\u00a0 and Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) applauded the bill introduction.<\/p>\n \u201cThis legislation will help make our communities and small businesses safer by giving legal cannabis businesses access to traditional financial institutions, including bank accounts and small business loans,\u201d the senators said. \u201cIt also prevents federal bank regulators from ordering a bank or credit union to close an account based on reputational risk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to the markup of this bill in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on September 27th,\u201d they said<\/a>.<\/p>\n BREAKING:<\/p>\n We’re introducing the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act.<\/p>\n This will help make our communities and small businesses safer by giving legal cannabis businesses access to traditional financial institutions. pic.twitter.com\/7SEiJEu9nV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 20, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The majority leader also said in a separate statement on Wednesday that he is committing to attaching legislation on incentivizing state-level cannabis expungements and restoring gun rights for medical marijuana patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n Specifically, he said he would move to add the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act and Gun Rights and Marijuana (GRAM) Act to the final legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve long advocated for expungement of records for cannabis offenses, and with SAFER Banking moving through the committee in such a strong, bipartisan way, I believe now is the time to get it done,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cI look forward to seeing the bill pass out of committee, so we can vote on it on the Senate floor.\u201d<\/p>\n Other initial cosponsors on the bill include Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ).<\/p>\n Booker\u2019s cosponsorship is especially notable given that the senator has previously resisted taking the incremental financial-focused reform step before advancing comprehensive legalization that helps right the wrongs of the war on drugs. When an earlier version was being considered in 2021, he vowed to \u201clay myself down\u201d to block the cannabis banking legislation<\/a> until Congress acted on ending prohibition.<\/p>\n The senator said in a statement on Wednesday that he\u2019s cosponsoring the bill with the \u201cassurance of Majority Leader Schumer that the HOPE Act, which will support states with grants so they can seek to expunge cannabis records, will be incorporated into this legislation on the Senate floor.\u201d<\/p>\n We just introduced the bipartisan SAFER Banking Act. We have the momentum to finally pass a bill that makes sure all legal cannabis businesses can access the standard financial services they need to keep their employees, businesses and communities safe. https:\/\/t.co\/noq2wLc7rc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) September 20, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The newly released bill<\/a> reveals<\/a> the types of compromises senators made over recent weeks. Most of the new provisions are described under Section 10\u2014a component of the reform that Republicans have strongly favored and certain Democrats opposed over concerns it could undermine broader banking regulations.<\/p>\n Here are some of the key changes from the previous Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 All told, it appears that the proposed revisions could satisfy both sides of the aisle, with Section 10 kept \u201cintact,\u201d\u00a0as Banking Committee member Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said this week<\/a>, but also with new provisions to promote equity in the financial system.<\/p>\n Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who also serves on the Banking Committee and\u00a0previously raised concerns about Section 10<\/a>, has also said that senators \u201ctalked extensively\u201d about the language, \u201cand we\u2019ve made some progress.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve resolved most of the issues we had\u2014and I hope we have so we can get it out of the committee with a strong vote,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But, again, the House under Republican control is another matter. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee where the cannabis banking bill would likely be referred, isn\u2019t supportive of the reform\u2014and he gave a noncommittal response<\/a> to Punchbowl News about how he\u2019d approach the bill if it ends up in his panel\u2019s jurisdiction.<\/p>\n He said simply that he \u201clook forward to seeing their markup,\u201d adding that he\u2019s \u201chappy to talk\u201d with Senate leaders about the legislation, but he also has \u201cpolicy I\u2019ve originated too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey should be interested in talking to me about that as well,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter the end of this week, we\u2019ll have five major packages out of committee. Happy to talk about all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Schumer and others have also discussed plans to amend the legislation on the floor to\u00a0adopt \u201ccritical\u201d criminal justice provisions<\/a>\u00a0such as expungements for prior marijuana convictions, calling\u00a0broader effort to repair the harms of the drug war\u00a0a \u201cmoral responsibility\u201d for Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n A spokesperson Daines told Marijuana Moment in July that\u00a0he is \u201copen\u201d to including the additional reform provision<\/a>, even as he\u2019s cautioned Democrats\u00a0against significantly expanding the bill\u2019s scope<\/a>\u00a0in a way that could jeopardize GOP support. As a standalone in its current form, insiders say the measure has enough Republican buy-in to reach the 60-vote threshold needed for passage in the Senate.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, a coalition of 35 cannabis trade associations, drug policy reform groups and a top national labor union called on Congress to help address\u00a0the \u201chumanitarian toll\u201d of robberies targeting cash-intensive marijuana businesses<\/a>\u00a0by passing the SAFE Banking Act \u201cthis year.\u201d<\/p>\n The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH)\u2014along with trade groups representing marijuana businesses in 16 states plus Washington, D.C.\u2014also sent a letter to Brown and Banking Committee Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) in July, imploring them to\u00a0pass the cannabis banking bill \u201cwithout further delay.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Also, the American Bankers Association (ABA) also\u00a0renewed 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 July also marked the\u00a010-year anniversary since the introduction<\/a>\u00a0of the first version of what is now known as the SAFE Banking Act.<\/p>\n Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) separately said in a recent letter to President Joe Biden that he should\u00a0throw his support behind the congressional push for marijuana banking reform<\/a>\u00a0as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) begins its review of cannabis scheduling after receiving a rescheduling recommendation from the top federal health agency.<\/p>\n Congressional Lawmakers File New Bill To Protect States That Legalize Psilocybin From Federal Intervention<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Bipartisan Senators Officially File Revised Marijuana Banking Bill Ahead Of Key Committee Vote<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A revised bipartisan marijuana banking bill has officially been filed in the Senate, one week before a key committee is scheduled to vote on the legislation. But its prospects in the GOP-controlled House remain uncertain, with a key committee chairman declining to say whether he\u2019d take up the legislation ifContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":68681,"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\/68680"}],"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=68680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68682,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68680\/revisions\/68682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n
\nMarijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-20.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Bipartisan Senators Officially File Revised Marijuana Banking Bill Ahead Of Key Committee Vote<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"