U.S. Senate Committee Approves Financial Services Measure For Legal Marijuana Business

Editor's note: "For the second year in a row, the Senate's budget writers have voted to address the banking crisis facing our industry," said Aaron Smith, National Cannabis Industry Association executive director, in a press release response to the committee's action. "Access to basic banking services is one of the most critical challenges facing legal cannabis businesses and the state agencies tasked with regulating them."

"While an appropriations amendment isn't a permanent fix to the banking problem, it is a significant step to correct a dangerous and unfair burden on responsible small-business owners and regulators.

[Press release] WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill that is intended to ease access to banking and other financial services for state-legal marijuana businesses.
 
The amendment, authored by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), would prevent the spending of funds to prohibit or penalize banks and other financial institutions for providing services to state-legal marijuana businesses. Currently, many banks are unwilling to open accounts for marijuana businesses because they fear federal penalties, which has resulted in many of those businesses operating on a cash-only basis.
 
“More than half of the U.S. population lives in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal for adult or medical use,” said Robert Capecchi, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Millions of marijuana consumers are relying on licensed and regulated businesses to provide them with safe and legal access to marijuana.
 
“Current federal policy all but ensures marijuana businesses operate on a cash-only basis, which raises safety concerns for their employees and the surrounding communities,” Capecchi said. “This measure should ease financial institutions’ concerns about opening accounts for these state-legal businesses.” 
 
In order to become law, the full Senate must approve the appropriations bill, the House must adopt similar language in its Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, and the president must sign it. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a similar amendment last year, but it was not included in the final spending bill.