U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter isn’t ready to give up on cannabis banking reform just yet.
After his Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act suffered its most recent defeat last month when lawmakers removed the measure from the America COMPETES Act, Perlmutter, a Democrat from Colorado, introduced the legislation as an amendment to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), according to The Dales Report.
RELATED: UPDATE: Rep. Perlmutter Makes Final Push on SAFE Banking
This is the second consecutive year that Perlmutter has included SAFE Banking in the defense spending package.
The SAFE Banking Act, which would prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing financial institutions for providing banking services to state-legal cannabis businesses, has passed the U.S. House six times, including twice as a standalone bill, but has stalled each time in the Senate.
The NDAA, which authorizes appropriations for the Department of Defense’s military activities, military construction and military personnel, must be ratified annually, and has passed Congress each year for the past 50 years, according to The Dales Report.
Last year, lawmakers stripped the SAFE Banking Act from the final version of the NDAA in December.
