116th Congress’ first cannabis-related hearing

Next week, Congress will hold a long-awaited hearing on the future of banking in the cannabis industry.

On Wednesday the 13th, the House Financial Services Committee Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee will convene a hearing entitled, “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses.”

Among the discussion points will be the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which was introduced and championed in the last Congress by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), a member of the committee. The Perlmutter bill provides safe harbor to banks working with businesses in the cannabis industry operating legally within their jurisdiction. Groups including the Credit Union National Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America support such legislative efforts. Last year, a bipartisan group of 19 state attorneys general sent a letter to Congress urging passage of the SAFE Banking Act. The bill had 95 cosponsors (including 13 Republicans) in the last Congress. Its companion legislation in the Senate, introduced by Jeff Merkley (D-OR), had 20 bipartisan cosponsors.

Banks, particularly the largest financial institutions, remain hesitant to provide services to the cannabis industry for fear of violating federal money laundering laws. That leaves many businesses in the industry to deal in cash. For a $10 billion (and growing) industry, “cash only” is not a sustainable policy. Business interests, regulators and (increasingly) Congress agree that something must be done in order to bring the cannabis industry into the banking system. Next week’s hearing is the first significant step of the 116th Congress to address this issue. In the coming weeks, banking legislation will be re-introduced, negotiated, marked-up in the Financial Services Committee, and possibly brought to the floor of the House.

Hearing details:

House Committee on Financial Services – Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair

Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions – Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Chair

Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses

Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 2:00 pm ET

2128 Rayburn House Office Building

Streaming on https://financialservices.house.gov