According to a summary, the marijuana banking bill, which is set to be discussed by a Senate Committee next week, may have a new title, and include several provisions related to federal financial regulation, guidance, and reporting requirements.
According to reports, the title of the bill is being expanded by one word. The bill being circulated before the Senate Banking Committee votes has now been renamed the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulaion (SAFE R) Banking Act.
The summary of the first report from Politico is important because it gives a glimpse into the compromises that senators made to ensure bipartisan support. Section 10 describes several new provisions. This is a part of the reform which Republicans strongly favor and some Democrats oppose because they fear it will undermine banking regulations.
The summary is not clear as to whether it represents the most recent agreement or from where it came. Marijuana Moment could not independently verify the document that Politico shared.
Senators Sherrod Brown and Steve Daines, the main sponsors of this bill (Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-OR and Steve Daines, R-MT did not respond to our requests for comments by the publication date.
What are the proposed amendments?
The section-by-section summaries are largely in line with the original Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE), but the provisions have only been briefly described and the complete text of the revised legislation is not yet available. It’s therefore difficult to determine the scope and substance of the reported changes.
According to the summary of Section 10, subsection 1, it is “explained that Federal banking agencies are required to ensure that credit unions and banks operate in a safe, sound and efficient manner. However, personal convictions or political motives used to limit access to financial services by lawful businesses do not belong at a Federal bank regulator.”
This seems to confirm a position taken by GOP members, who used the cannabis bill to stop financial regulators from discriminating in favor of certain industries such as lending institutions and the gun industry.
Cat Packer, vice-chair of the Cannabis Regulationists of Color Coalition (CRCC), and director of Drug Markets and Legal Regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance, told Marijuana Moment Tuesday that the summary could be interpreted in a way that supports social equity goals, like those that she suggested as part of , a recent report that looked at ways to improve the marijuana bank legislation.
Packer stated that while the language “can work both ways” and may have been intended to appeal to GOP supporters, it can also be used to appeal to Democrats.
She said, “I think that this is generally in line what CRCC, and DPA, have advocated–just recognizing in part that banking can be extremely discretionary.” “Banks have been able to make a decision on who they bank, and will continue to do so.” In the past, minority communities, Black and Brown, have been underbanked.
Two of the three last subsections in Section 10 appear to be entirely new and to at least partially respond to the policy recommendations of equity advocates.
Subsection (f) would require federal banking regulators to work with state banking supervisors and the secretaries of commerce and treasury and, within two years of enactment, “promulgate tailored rules or guidance to increase access to deposit accounts for businesses and customers and to enable banks and credit unions to more effectively maintain customer relationships–especially for those in rural, low-and moderate-income areas, Tribal communities, and unbanked businesses and consumers.”
Advocates are pleased with the description of increased accessibility and the emphasis on underserved community–though the actual text has not yet been released.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation would be required to conduct a biennial report and survey to identify the barriers that small and medium sized businesses face in accessing their deposit accounts.
Packer stated that the apparent changes are “in line with” what equity advocates had encouraged. “I am interested to see the text of these provisions because they seem to be in line with the issues that we have raised.”
A second potential change is the inclusion of tribal communities under Section 10 and Section 11. This section requires that federal regulators submit a report on the access to banking by historically underbanked community to Congress. The report now includes tribes alongside minorities, women, veterans and state-approved cannabis businesses. This was not the case when the SAFE Banking Act was introduced.
Another summary is a new section of Section 10 which says that it “establishes an interpretation rule that does not restrict the ability of Federal banking regulators to identify or discuss issues with a depositories financial condition, governance and consumer protection, internal control, unsafe or unsound situations, the Bank Secrecy Act or countering financing of terrorism.
If the summary is indeed the latest bipartisan agreement it would appear that the proposed additions are likely to satisfy both sides, as Section 10 will be kept “intact,” according to Banking Committee member Senator Kevin Cramer’s (R-ND), who said this week. However, there are also new provisions designed for equity in the financial sector.
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Jack Reed, a senator from Rhode Island who is also a member of the Banking Committee, and raised concerns before about section 10 has said that the senators have “talked extensively” regarding the language.
He said, “I believe we’ve solved most of the issues that we had. I hope we did so we can pass it through the committee with a solid vote.”
Schumer, along with others, have discussed plans to amend legislation currently on the floor in order to adopt “critical” criminal justice provisions, such as expungements of prior marijuana convictions. They also called for a broader effort to repair harms caused by the drug war to be a “moral obligation” for Congress.
Daines’ spokesperson told Marijuana Moment that the senator is “open” about including the additional reform provision. However, he warned Democrats not to expand the bill’s scope significantly in a manner that would jeopardize GOP backing. Insiders claim that the bill, in its current form and as a stand-alone measure, has the Republican support needed to pass the Senate.
A coalition of 35 cannabis associations, drug policy reform organizations and a leading national labor union on Tuesday called for Congress to address “the humanitarian toll” of robberies that target cash-intensive marijuana businesses, by passing the SAFE Banking Act this year.
In July, the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, along with other trade groups representing marijuana business in 16 states and Washington, D.C., sent a letter to Brown and Banking Committee ranking member Tim Scott (R-SC), imploring them to pass the cannabis banking legislation “without further delay.”
The American Bankers Association (ABA), too, reiterated its call for passage. All 50 state chapters of the ABA did the same. Insurance and union organizations also wrote to Congress.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said separately in a letter sent to President Joe Biden recently that he should support the congressional push for marijuana bank reform at the same time the Drug Enforcement Administration begins its review of the cannabis schedule after receiving a rescheduling recommendations from the top federal agency.
Below, you can read the summary for the SAFER Banking Act:
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The post Senators Reportedly Circulating Revised Marijuana Bank Bill With New Title and Provisions As Committee Prepares For Voting Next Week first appeared on Marijuana Minute.
