Pot Banking

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., was the only Democratic lawmaker to vote against the legislation, while three Republicans voted in favor.

As cannabis becomes more and more commonplace, reasonable people might wonder why Congress hasn't made it easier for banks to serve legal cannabis businesses. But maybe giving big banks and capital markets a green light to dive into cannabis with both feet is an outcome worth avoiding.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2023, introduced in both the House and Senate would allow regulated banks to work with state-legal cannabis companies.

The SAFE Banking Act has been passable for almost a decade, but one thing or another has always gotten in the way. Congress should pass it now.

The 117th Congress has been surprisingly kind to the banking industry as a whole so far. Can the trend last through the fall? 

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, the bill’s chief sponsor, said the decision would allow people to “continue to be killed” as cannabis companies’ cash is targeted by crime.

A bipartisan group of senators is calling for a bill allowing banks to serve the legal cannabis industry to be included in the U.S.-China trade bill, ending a yearslong blockade of the popular legislation.

Probably, observers say, but the clock is ticking now that the legislation’s author, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, has decided to leave Congress at year-end. And political wrangling could lead to significant alterations.

Lawmakers approved adding the measure, which gives banks legal cover to serve cannabis firms, to a broader legislative package. But the provision has already passed the chamber several times and analysts say full enactment will be more difficult.

The SAFE Banking Act would protect credit unions and banks that serve legal marijuana businesses from prosecution, but anti-money-laundering compliance will always be arduous, says Sundie Seefried, the head of a new company that helps credit unions work with cannabis firms.