NCIA (and me personally!) The SAFE Banking Act has been discussed for many years by NCIA (and myself personally!)
After the Senate Banking Committee’s hearing on the topic of financial services and the cannabis industry in May, it became clear that in order for the bill to continue on in the legislative process and receive a <a href="https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-process/in-committee#:~:text=After%20hearings%20are%20completed%2C%20the,accept%20or%20reject%20these%20changes. The Senate Banking Committee's hearing on financial services and the cannabis industry in May made it clear that the bill would need to undergo changes.
A slightly improved (and new?) version of the bill was introduced last month as the SAFER Banking Act. Last month, a slightly new (and improved?) version of the bill called the SAFER Banking Act was introduced. The majority of changes to the bill are in Section 10, which prohibits federal banking regulators taking discriminatory enforcement actions against any industry.
The Senate Banking Committee, after SAFER had been formally introduced announced that the markup would be held on September 27. This was the first ever time that a Senate Committee held a markup for a cannabis-friendly bill.
Multiple amendments were proposed during the markup. The first amendment, proposed by Chairman Brown (DOH), was a so-called “manager’s amendement” that primarily changed the technical aspects of the bill. This amendment made it so the Treasury Secretary would have one year instead of 180 days to update the guidance that was released in 2014 by the Obama administration to financial institutions who work with cannabis businesses. The amendment also stated that federal home-loan banks would now be included in a list that protects financial institutions from federal regulators penalizing them for simply working with state legal cannabis businesses.
A second amendment from Sen. Warnock, D-GA, would have set a sunset date of 5 years for the legislation until a report by the Treasury Department confirmed that the legislation had reduced the racial gap in wealth and mitigated other negative economic effects of the drug war. This amendment failed.
Additional amendments were offered by Senators Hagerty, Rounds, and Crapo, but they were ruled out-of-order, withdrawn or failed.
Republican committee members expressed concern over the bill, which allowed financial institutions to use reputational risk in order to de-bank accounts that they did not agree with. They also argued that financial regulators should not be able pressure financial entities to refuse service to lawful entities.
Sen. Warnock, a Democrat member from Georgia, expressed concern that the bill did not adequately address the disproportionate impact of marijuana criminalization on the racial inequality in wealth. Some members of the committee urged amendments and future legislation to improve the lives of those who are most negatively affected by marijuana criminalization, as well as to create safer conditions for financial institutions and banks. Sen. Warnock is the lone Democrat to vote “no” during the markup.
The bill was ultimately passed by a bipartisan 14-9 vote. The bill will now be put to a full Senate vote. Majority Leader Schumer, D-NY, has promised to schedule the floor vote as soon as possible.
I haven’t finished making history, and neither have you. Keep up to date with the SAFER Banking Act, and find out how you can get it passed!
The article The SAFER Banking Act is approved by the Senate first appeared on National Cannabis Industry Association.
