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The Republican vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee says he would support a hybrid marijuana banking and cryptocurrency regulation bill, saying \u201cour country will benefit\u201d if both reforms are enacted.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Bloomberg, Rep. French Hill (R-AR) was asked to weigh in on ongoing talks about merging the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act and the cryptocurrency legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would vote for if it were coupled. I have supported the SAFE Banking Act for nine years in Congress now, which would allow cannabis dealers in states where it\u2019s legal to have access to the banking system,\u201d Hill, who\u2019s twice voted for the cannabis legislation on the House floor, said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a lot easier to catch bad actors and illegal activity if those companies are participating in the banking system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone\u2019s trying to take advantage of legal cannabis in an illegal way, it\u2019s a lot better to have those companies participating in the banking system,\u201d he said, adding that he agrees with recent remarks from the committee\u2019s ranking member, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)<\/a>, that legislation is close to being finalized.<\/p>\n Hill was also asked about the prospect of including the reforms in a must-pass Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill<\/a>\u2014a possibility that a top marijuana industry group said is no longer being considered<\/a> in an internal message to stakeholders last week.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s a call that leadership has to make,\u201d the congressman said. \u201cI think there are other ways that we can do it during the course of the year. But if we get an agreement, then House and Senate leadership can work on the best floor strategy for moving the legislation forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBottom line is we\u2019ve made a lot of progress in the last year,\u201d he said. \u201cOur country will benefit if we get both these bills passed.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, last week Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)\u00a0once again\u00a0included the bipartisan marijuana banking bill in a list of legislative priorities<\/a>\u00a0he hopes to advance this year.<\/p>\n Since the Senate recently approved must-pass appropriations legislation and foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, there are heightened expectations that floor action could be on the horizon.<\/p>\n Adding to those expectations is the recent introduction of a bill to\u00a0incentivize expungements for past cannabis offenses at the state, local and tribal levels<\/a>. Schumer has made clear he intends to attach that measure to the banking legislation on the floor.<\/p>\n Schumer also recently asked people to\u00a0show their support for the SAFER Banking Act by signing a petition<\/a>\u00a0as he steps up his push for the legislation. A poll released last month by the American Bankers Association (ABA) shows that roughly three out of five Americans\u00a0support allowing marijuana industry access to the banking system<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said that that\u00a0\u201cif Republicans want to keep the House,\u201d they should pass the marijuana banking bill<\/a>, arguing that \u201cthere are votes\u201d to approve it.<\/p>\n The congresswoman also told the majority leader to \u201cstop holding\u201d the SAFER Banking Act as a \u201ccampaign carrot\u201d in a social media post on Monday.<\/p>\n Hey, @SenSchumer<\/a>, stop holding #SAFEBanking<\/a> as a campaign carrot, and PASS. THE. BILL. https:\/\/t.co\/VArLflt8Gm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) April 29, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Schumer told Marijuana Moment last month that\u00a0the bill remains a \u201cvery high priority\u201d for the Senate<\/a>, and members are having \u201cvery productive\u201d bicameral talks to reach a final agreement.<\/p>\n Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said last month that\u00a0passing the SAFER Banking Act off the floor is a \u201chigh priority.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0However, he also recently said in a separate interview that\u00a0advancing the legislation is complicated by current House dynamics<\/a>.<\/p>\n House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) separately said during a recent American Bankers Association (ABA) summit that he wants to see the SAFER Banking Act move.<\/p>\n He said that, \u201cfor whatever reason, the federal government has been slow\u201d to act on the incremental reform that he supports even though he doesn\u2019t identify as \u201ca marijuana guy.\u201d<\/p>\n One key factor that\u2019s kept the bill from the Senate floor is disagreement over mostly non-cannabis provisions dealing with broader banking regulations, primarily those contained in Section 10 of the legislation.<\/p>\n \u2014 Bicameral negotiations have been ongoing, however, and recent reporting suggests that a final deal could be just over the horizon.<\/p>\n The Democratic Senate sponsor of the SAFER Banking Act, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), told Marijuana Moment last month that the legislation is \u201cgaining momentum\u201d as lawmakers work to bring it to the floor and pass it \u201cthis year.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Earl Blumenauer, founding co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Marijuana Moment last week that,\u00a0\u201cevery day we\u2019re closer on SAFE Banking,<\/a>\u00a0and negotiations \u201care ongoing in the House and Senate, and we are, in fact, making progress.\u201d<\/p>\n At the close of the first half of the 118th Congress in December, Schumer said in a floor speech that lawmakers would \u201chit the ground running\u201d in 2024, aiming to\u00a0build on bipartisan progress on several key issues, including marijuana banking reform<\/a>\u2014though he noted it \u201cwon\u2019t be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n New Mexico Governor \u2018Offended\u2019 By Top Biden Official\u2019s Reaction To Marijuana Business Seizure Concerns, Leaked Audio Shows<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Top GOP Congressman Backs Passing Marijuana Banking Bill Paired With Cryptocurrency Reform, Saying \u2018Our Country Will Benefit\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Republican vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee says he would support a hybrid marijuana banking and cryptocurrency regulation bill, saying \u201cour country will benefit\u201d if both reforms are enacted. In an interview with Bloomberg, Rep. French Hill (R-AR) was asked to weigh in on ongoing talks aboutContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":74736,"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\/74735"}],"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=74735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74737,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74735\/revisions\/74737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Top GOP Congressman Backs Passing Marijuana Banking Bill Paired With Cryptocurrency Reform, Saying \u2018Our Country Will Benefit\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"