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Senate Majority Leader Vows to Bring SAFER Banking Act to Floor—And Other Reactions to Bill’s Advancement

The Senate Banking Committee approved the legislation Sept. 27, sending it to the floor, where Sen. Chuck Schumer plans to call a vote “as quickly as possible.”

United States Capitol Adobe Stock Credit Katherine Resized2
Katherine | Adobe Stock

In a historic move Sept. 27, the Senate Banking Committee voted, 14-9, to approve the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, sending it to the floor for consideration.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday on the committee holding a markup of the banking reform legislation, which would provide safe harbor to financial institutions that serve the cannabis industry.

“This morning, as we speak, the Banking Committee is holding a markup on our bipartisan SAFER Banking Act,” Schumer said. “Today’s markup of SAFER Banking represents a huge step forward in the Senate’s effort to help cannabis businesses operate more efficiently, more safely, more transparently. … It's been a goal of mine since we started this session of the Senate to move forward on this legislation.”

Schumer, who sponsors the legislation, said that once the bill was reported out of committee, he planned to “bring SAFER Banking to the floor for a vote as quickly as possible.”

“So again, I thank my colleagues on both sides for their work on this legislation, which has been an effort years, years in the making,” he said. “And once it’s reported out of committee, I will put SAFER Banking on the floor for a vote very soon.”

This marks the first time that cannabis banking reform has gained meaningful traction in the Senate. Related reform, the SAFE Banking Act, has passed seven times in the U.S. House since 2019. As Cannabis Business Times previously reported, the word “regulation” was added to the title of the revised legislation, which was introduced Sept. 20.

RELATED: The SAFER Banking Act Deep Dive: What’s Next?

The legislation’s advancement in the Senate caused quite a stir in the industry Wednesday. Here, CBT has compiled a roundup of stakeholders’ comments and reactions to the committee’s passage of the SAFER Banking Act.

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