Senators push bill to make banking easier for cannabis businesses

A bipartisan group of senators have introduced a banking reform bill that would allow banks to work with cannabis companies in states where it’s legal. Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act on Wednesday, April 26.

The Senate bill was introduced despite the fact that marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. The bill primarily focuses on bank regulators, preventing them from dinging banks just for working with weed-related businesses.

“Most state legal medicinal or recreational cannabis businesses are denied access to the banking system because banks fear they may be prosecuted under federal law given the ongoing federal restrictions on cannabis,” the press office for Sen. Daines said in a release. “The lack of access to bank accounts, credit cards, and checks have forced state legal cannabis businesses to operate in cash, opening the door to tax evasion and to a dangerous pattern of robberies.

The bill in its form as introduces is a “skinny” version, with other potential reforms left out. Those reforms include helping states expunge the records of non-violent marijuana offenders and removing restrictions on gun ownership for cannabis users. In a joint statement, Sen. Merkley and Saines said there will be a chance to add these reforms to create the “SAFE Banking Plus” package.

“This expanded ‘SAFE Banking Plus’ package will represent the largest-ever cannabis reform legislation with bipartisan support in Congress,” the senators said in the join statement. “We are committed to making 2023 the year a bill is signed into law that ensures all legal cannabis businesses have access to the financial services they need.”

The House has passed some a cannabis banking reform bill seven times since 2019. Each time, the legislation has failed in the Senate.