A bill aimed to protect legal cannabis businesses and their employees will be inserted as an amendment into another piece of legislation, according to the Congressman who first introduced it.
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado, announced on Twitter that he’s filed the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act as an amendment to the existing America Competes Act.
“Cannabis-related businesses – big and small – are in desperate need of access to capital & the banking system in order to operate in an efficient, safe manner & compete in the growing global cannabis marketplace,” Perlmutter said on Twitter.
Per Congressional documents, the bill essentially aims to prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing institutions that provide banking services to legal, cannabis-related businesses.
“The bill establishes a safe harbor for any depository institution that chooses to provide banking services to a cannabis-related legitimate business that holds and maintains a license from a state or local government to engage in manufacturing, growing, or producing, as well as any business who handles, sells, transports, displays or distributes cannabis or cannabis products,” according to information from Perlmutter’s website.
Because cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, financial institutions providing banking services to state-licensed cannabis businesses could be subject to criminal prosecution under several federal statutes. This means such businesses are essentially locked out of the banking system and have to operate with a cash-only model. With the almost guarantee of large amounts of cash being held, these businesses have been targeted by criminals.
Perlmutter’s website cites a few burglaries and murders at legal cannabis businesses in recent years as evidence of the need for SAFE Banking.
The bill passed in the House of Representative in April 2021 but the Senate didn’t take action on it. The SAFE Banking Act was initially included in the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act later in the year, but the Senate removed it ahead of a vote. At that time, Perlmutter said he wouldn’t stop pursuing the effort until it was signed into law.
