SAFE Banking Act

Bipartisan lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate reintroduced the SAFE Banking Act this week, which seeks to normalize banking services for state-licensed cannabis companies.

Language to expand cannabis banking and expungement was ultimately excluded from the annual federal spending bill following GOP pushback, and Congress will continue to block the full implementation of Washington D.C.’s voter-approved cannabis reforms.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is attempting one last-ditch effort this weekend to attach cannabis banking reforms to the annual omnibus funding package.

The Senate has walked back plans to include bipartisan cannabis banking reforms in the annual national defense bill following an outcry by GOP lawmakers.

Top Senate Democrats are reportedly set to attach language from the SAFE Banking Act that would normalize the cannabis industry’s access to banking services to a “must-pass” end-of-year bill like the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

A large group of cannabis businesses in New York and New Jersey sent a signed letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) requesting that he include restorative justice provisions in the SAFE Banking Act. 

The SAFE Banking Act was removed from the COMPETES Act, a China competition bill, at the behest of Republican lawmakers who argued the cannabis banking reforms didn’t belong in the legislation.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors endorsed a resolution calling on federal lawmakers to pass the SAFE Banking Act and to legalize both medical and adult-use cannabis.

Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D) blames the supply chain crisis on the federal zero-tolerance policy for cannabis consumption by commercial drivers, which disqualifies huge sections of the workforce.

Senators from both sides of the aisle are in support of adding the SAFE Banking Act to a separate bill, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, aimed at easing manufacturing and supply chain issues.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act for the sixth time as an amendment to the China competition bill.

The SAFE Banking Act — which has sought for years to let the cannabis industry access banking services — was revived last week as an attachment to the America COMPETES Act of 2022, a domestic spending bill.

Congressional Democrats are planning to take on numerous cannabis reform proposals during the upcoming legislative session, including banking, expungement, decriminalization, and social equity considerations.

Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D), the author of the SAFE Banking Act and other cannabis reform bills, announced this week he would not seek reelection.

Lawmakers have removed language from a national defense bill that would have given state-legal cannabis companies access to banking services.

For the second time this year, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved the SAFE Banking Act which would allow banks to work with cannabis firms without fear of penalty.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the SAFE Banking Act in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 321-101 vote. The bill moves next to the Senate.

The SAFE Banking Act has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was first passed 18 months ago with immense bipartisan support but never appeared in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threw shade at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi yesterday, suggesting that she claimed cannabis was an effective treatment for COVID-19.

While the budget rider protecting medical cannabis from federal interference remained intact with the new omnibus package, recreational industry protections have been stripped.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, says he does not support the SAFE Banking Act because it fails to address issues such as high cannabis potencies and marketing strategies that target children.

The House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act this afternoon in a historic and bipartisan landslide of support for giving state-legal cannabis companies access to banking services.

The SAFE Banking Act, which would normalize banking for the cannabis industry, is expected to receive a House vote next week.