WASHINGTON Rep. Ed Perlmutter, the chief sponsor of a bill to allow banking for legal marijuana services, yesterday said he plans to seek a hearing on the measure as Congress returns from its summer recess.
In an interview after he spoke at the NAFCU Congressional Caucus, Perlmutter told Credit Union Journal his bill aims to clear up the uncertainty for credit unions and banks seeking to provide financial services, checking and savings accounts, or even business loans, to the thousands of businesses now involved in legal marijuana trade, especially in his home state of Colorado, which legalized recreational uses of the drug last year.
“Financial institutions are generally in a pickle,” said Perlmutter, “On one hand, the business is legal in my state and 22 states total. On the other hand, marijuana is still a violation of the federal law on controlled substances.”
He welcomed testimony by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier in the week that it was preparing to ease restrictions on providing financial services to the legal marijuana business. “That is a good thing,” said Perlmutter.
Credit unions and banks have been reluctant to serve marijuana businesses, including medical dispensaries, because of the conflict with federal laws and the possibility they could be involved in civil forfeiture proceedings or even charged with money laundering or other crimes.
The bill introduced by Perlmutter and Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., which also legalized the use of marijuana, would clear up the uncertainty over law. The two House members last week called on NCUA and banking regulators to issue their own rules easing the restrictions, absent passage of their bill. On Wednesday, Perlmutter said he had not yet heard back from regulators.
