U.S. senators on both sides of the aisle addressed the lack of banking access for the marijuana industry at a committee hearing on Wednesday, with one GOP member suggesting that the issue warrants a broader examination of federal cannabis policies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a separate House committee also met to discuss banking issues, where the marijuana industry\u2019s unique financial challenges were also raised.<\/p>\n
The repeated mentions of cannabis businesses at the Senate Banking Committee hearing were all the more notable considering that the panel\u2019s chairman, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), emphasized on multiple occasions\u2014before and during the meeting\u2014that the focus should be on de-banking issues for \u201cfederally legal\u201d companies.<\/p>\n
But Democratic and Republican members alike called attention to the cannabis industry nonetheless.<\/p>\n
For example, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in her opening remarks noted that \u201clawful cannabis businesses have been unable to open accounts and employees of those businesses have been debanked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis shouldn\u2019t be happening, and we need to figure out why and who is responsible,\u201d the senator, who also entered into the record stories from marijuana businesses that have been impacted by debanking, said.<\/p>\n
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), meanwhile, questioned the germaneness of talking about marijuana banking in the debanking context given that, \u201cthe last time I checked the cannabis business is illegal at a federal level.\u201d But he said he would be inclined to examine that policy disconnect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI, for one, think we should reexamine [federal marijuana laws], but we damn sure shouldn\u2019t do it by passing\u201d a bill that \u201cmakes it default legal before we take in any firm position here that provides the industry with clarity.\u201d He mentioned the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), but it seems he meant to reference the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf somebody wants to work on rules of the road and do that\u2014and bank the industry in a cohesive, sustainable way that doesn\u2019t kind of skirt around the fact that it\u2019s still illegal at the federal level\u2014count me in. Happy to do it,\u201d Tillis said.<\/p>\n
Tillis said last December that he\u2019s hopeful Congress will have a \u201cdiscussion\u201d about potentially creating a federal regulatory framework for marijuana<\/a> in 2025, though he added that he personally wouldn\u2019t vote to federally legalize cannabis.<\/p>\n Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) also noted at the Banking Committee hearing that the panel \u201chad a very positive discussion about the SAFE Banking Act,\u201d and he looks forward to working with colleagues \u201cto come up with a compromise that would still allow reputational risk to be a factor, but to put up some guardrails with regard to its application.\u201d<\/p>\n The Brookings Institution\u2019s Aaron Klein also briefly addressed the cannabis banking issue at the hearing after submitting written testimony where he recommended that the committee<\/a> \u201ceither combine SAFE Banking with broader [suspicious activity reports, or SARs] reform or enhance SAFE Banking to address the problems with SARs filing on state-licensed cannabis businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Also at the hearing, Stephen Gannon, a partner at the firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, mentioned his own personal awareness of a wine vineyard \u201cwhere the wife of the vineyard owner happened to be an investor in the cannabis industry\u201d and \u201cthe vineyard and the individuals that own the vineyard all lost their [bank] accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey had nothing to do with the cannabis industry, but I guess it was a knock-on effect as far as the regulators were concerned, because all those accounts went away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the lead-up to the hearing, marijuana workers and industry associations had been reaching out to the committee with their stories of losing bank accounts over their association with cannabis.<\/p>\n Part of the outreach was coordinated by Kyle Sherman, CEO of the non-plant touching cannabis industry technology platform company Flowhub.<\/p>\n In addition to having his own letter addressing marijuana debanking entered into the record by the chairman ahead of the hearing<\/a>, Sherman told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday that over 115 other cannabis or cannabis-adjacent businesses shared their experiences with the committee through a customized form submission portal Flowhub engineered.<\/p>\n I\u2019m on Capitol Hill headed to the Senate Banking Committee\u2019s debanking hearing. I\u2019m grateful for @SenatorTimScott<\/a> and the committee for putting my written testimony in the record. As a federally legal software company @FlowhubCo<\/a> has been debanked numerous times along with many\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Kyle Sherman (@KyleSherman) February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Sherman also had the chance to speak with Warren on Wednesday, and he said the senator made clear that \u201cthis is a priority and needs to happen, and is extraordinarily supportive of SAFER Banking.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Warren expressed her understanding that her state of Massachusetts has a \u201crobust\u201d cannabis market and \u201crealizes they need help\u2014and then, more broadly, the industry needs help, and that this is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n Quick chat with @SenWarren<\/a> on SAFER Banking and the need for banking reform in the cannabis industry. She desperately wants to see movement on this. Appreciate your support Senator. pic.twitter.com\/SsLEWAuw7d<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kyle Sherman (@KyleSherman) February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n In Flowhub\u2019s letter to the committee, the company said that \u201cCongress has the opportunity to fulfill President Trump\u2019s campaign commitment by advancing banking reform and ending Operation Chokepoint for American businesses like Flowhub,\u201d referencing the president\u2019s stated support for cannabis industry banking access on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump has explicitly endorsed state-legal cannabis banking reform, and, in this \u2018Promises Made, Promises Kept\u2019 and \u2018Revolution of Common Sense\u2019 administration, Flowhub is optimistic that Congress will deliver meaningful relief to the state-legal cannabis industry, the ancillary businesses that support it, and their collective hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American workers,\u201d the letter<\/a> says.<\/p>\n The U.S. Cannabis Roundtable (USCR) also had a letter entered into the record emphasizing that the SAFE Banking Act on its own \u201cdoes not federally legalize,\u201d \u201cdoes change criminal penalties associated with conduct related to cannabis\u201d and \u201cdoes not require banks to service cannabis businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe SAFE Banking act merely allows financial institutions to serve state legal and licensed businesses and those interacting with the state-legal industry without fear of retribution,\u201d USCR said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo business should be at risk of being debanked, especially if it complies with state licensing and regulation requirements,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Separately, the House Financial Services Committee also held a hearing on Wednesday to discuss improvements to the community banking sector, and one witness\u2014Cathy Owen, representing Eagle Bank and Trust Company, the Arkansas Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association\u2014also flagged<\/a> cannabis industry financial challenges in her written testimony.<\/p>\n Owen\u2019s recommendation to the committee was to \u201cenact the SAFE Banking Act to get state sanctioned cannabis cash off the street and into regulated financial institutions, making our communities safer and the cannabis industry more transparent to regulators, tax authorities and law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, congressional researchers recently released a report detailing the subject of debanking\u2014while making a point to address how\u00a0the marijuana industry\u2019s financial services access problem \u201csits at the nexus\u201d<\/a>\u00a0of a state-federal policy conflict that complicates the debate.<\/p>\n While the SAFE Banking Act to address the issue is expected to be filed again this session\u2014that introduction is \u201cnot imminent\u201d as some recent reports have suggested,<\/a>\u00a0a spokesperson for the GOP House sponsor of the last version told Marijuana Moment last month.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile introduction is not imminent, we hope to have a firmer update on timing within the coming weeks,\u201d the staffer for Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) said.<\/p>\n With Republicans now in control of the House and Senate\u2014and leadership having historically opposed even modest cannabis legislation, including the banking bill\u2014there are open questions about the prospects of advancing marijuana reform this session.<\/p>\n However, some are holding out hope that a measure to allow cannabis industry banking access could move, especially given President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement of the proposal on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n Separately, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced in December that it\u2019s\u00a0convening focus groups comprised of marijuana businesses<\/a>\u00a0to better understand their experiences with access to banking services under federal prohibition.<\/p>\n The industry remains frustrated with the lack of progress on the cannabis banking issue under the last administration.<\/p>\n A Senate source told Marijuana Moment in December that Republican House and Senate leadership\u00a0\u201copenly and solely blocked\u201d then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer\u2019s (D-NY) attempt<\/a>\u00a0to include the bill in a government funding bill as the session came to a close.<\/p>\n Warren and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) had challenged the idea that there was enough GOP support<\/a>\u00a0for the SAFER Banking Act to pass on the Senate floor during the lame duck session.<\/p>\n Warren accused certain Republican members of overstating support for the legislation within their caucus, while also taking a hit at Trump for doing \u201cnothing\u201d on cannabis reform during his time in office as he makes a policy pivot ahead of the election by\u00a0coming out in support of the marijuana banking bill and federal rescheduling<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) also recently argued in an interview with Marijuana Moment that the main barrier to getting the marijuana banking bill across the finish line is a lack of sufficient Republican support in the chamber. And he said if Trump is serious about seeing the reform he recently endorsed enacted,\u00a0he needs to \u201cbring us some Republican senators.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Prior to becoming House speaker,\u00a0Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) consistently opposed cannabis reform<\/a>, including on incremental issues like cannabis banking and making it easier to conduct scientific research on the plant.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on the one-year anniversary of a Senate committee\u2019s passage of the SAFER Banking Act in September, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)\u00a0released an analysis on the economic impact of the reform<\/a>, including the likely increase in federally insured deposits from cannabis businesses by billions of dollars once banks receive protections for servicing the industry.<\/p>\n Separately, the CEO of the financial giant JPMorgan Chase said recently that the company\u00a0\u201cprobably would\u201d start providing banking services to marijuana businesses<\/a>\u00a0if federal law changed to permit it.<\/p>\n GOP Lawmaker Files First Marijuana Bill Of New Congress, Aiming To Protect Veterans\u2019 Medical Cannabis Access<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Bipartisan Senators Address Marijuana Industry Banking Challenges At Hearing Despite Chairman\u2019s Focus On \u2018Federally Legal\u2019 Businesses<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
U.S. senators on both sides of the aisle addressed the lack of banking access for the marijuana industry at a committee hearing on Wednesday, with one GOP member suggesting that the issue warrants a broader examination of federal cannabis policies. Meanwhile, a separate House committee also met to discuss bankingContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"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\/80053"}],"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=80053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80054,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80053\/revisions\/80054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Bipartisan Senators Address Marijuana Industry Banking Challenges At Hearing Despite Chairman\u2019s Focus On \u2018Federally Legal\u2019 Businesses<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"