Raphael Warnock, U.S. Senator from Georgia (D), was the only Democrat who voted against a bill to reform marijuana banking during a markup by a committee last month. In a recent interview, Warnock described his vote as a way to make important equity improvements now while the opportunity is still there.
“I’m concerned that if we don’t address the issue with restorative justice and pass a law that includes all the fees and revenue, we won’t be able to get back to those communities,” Warnock stated during an appearance in Crooked Media Lovett or Leave It, a podcast posted on Sunday. He said that black and brown people have been “hollowed-out” by the so-called drug war for marijuana use.
Warnock discussed the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER), which would protect banks who service state-legal cannabis markets from being penalized by federal regulators.
Warnock said that the program allows banks and businesses to work with cannabis businesses where they are legal. This creates a secure environment for these businesses. The communities most affected by the “war on drugs” are not helped at all.
My question was: “Who do we make safer?” ‘”
Last month, the Senate Banking Committee of which Warnock was a part, made several amendments before advanced the SAFER Banking Act to the Senate Floor . The panel, however, rejected Warnockâs proposed changes which were intended to strengthen the bill’s equity provision.
The amendment in question would have set an expiration date for the Banking Act unless the Treasury Department had submitted to Congress a report certifying the reduction of the racial gap and the other negative economic effects of the drug warfare. A summary stated that another amendment would have required government to examine the “racial gap in wealth and the percentages of minority-owned cannabis related businesses” before and after passage of the SAFER Banking Act.
Warnock gave a speech at the time expressing his concerns with the bill, saying that it would “make life safer for the bankers of businesses and financial institutions who have profited illegally from the cannabis sector for years.”
“I am not against easing or removing federal restrictions on cannabis. “I would support the entire package of reforms and provisions in this bill if they were paired with more comprehensive cannabis reforms which addressed restorative justice in a substantive way,” he said to his colleagues. “This bill doesn’t do that.”
The lawmaker repeated his points in the new Lovett or Leave It Interview with former Jon Lovett a former speechwriter of President Barack Obama.
He said that there were many good reasons for moving forward, but he was also trying to get us to combine justice and common sense to ensure everyone’s safety.
Warnock believes that as the drug war waned, the United States needed something similar to the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan invested in war-torn nations after World War II to help them rebuild.
He said that he knew of Black and Brown communities in Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago and South Central that could benefit from a Marshall Plan. They could also use some acknowledgement for what happened to them.
Senator noted that the U.S. was “the capital of mass imprisonment in the world”. “We make up about 6 percent of world’s population.” About half of all prisoners in the world are housed at our prisons.
Warnock, who is a member of the Banking Committee, said he believes he can see leaders exacerbate the racial gap in wealth as they struggle to reform marijuana. He continued, “I believe this is what I saw in real time.”
I have some really great colleagues in the Banking Committee. The lawmaker added, “They’re good people.” If only banking reform becomes law, then “years later we will be asking ourselves – as we do with a wide range of other things – why are these problems so difficult to solve?”
According to a recent Canvass Capitol Hill poll, only 13 percent of congressional employees believe that a marijuana bank bill will be passed this year. Staff in Democratic offices were slightly optimistic at 18%, while only 9 percent of GOP employees said that they believe the bill will pass by the end 2023.
The respondents were more optimistic on topics such as reauthorization of federal aviation, increased funding for the Pentagon, and increasing support for Ukraine.
Schumer has also a href=”https://www.marijuanamoment.net/schumer-pledges-to bring committee passed marijuana banking bill to floor very soon as GOP senators vow to kill it/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>detailed plans to amend the SAFER Banking Act/a> by attaching legislation to incentivize state and local cannabis expungements and gun rights for marijuana consumers. Schumer also has detailed plans to amend SAFER Banking Act, by attaching legislation that would incentivize state- and local cannabis expunctions and gun rights for marijuana users.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, sent a recent letter to Schumer to express his concern over the Senate’s “ongoing priority of legislation relaxing marijuana laws in favor of a separate measure that the GOP senator prefers to permanently ban fentanyl analogs.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, is also stirring up the pot about the cannabis banking legislation. He has inflated Schumer’s recent remarks on the floor regarding his plan to amend the bill with “criminal Justice provisions.”
Cotton stated that while Schumer only mentioned amending the bill in order to include gun rights and expungements, the majority leader would like to add provisions allowing drug traffickers to be released from prison.
Additionally, Sens. Pete Ricketts, John Cornyn, Ted Budd and James Lankford sent a letter recently to the Senate leadership arguing that the SAFER Banking Act will result in cannabis products with higher potencies that are harmful to children and would compromise the integrity of “the United States banking system”.
A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 22 states is calling on Congress to also pass the Cannabis Banking Reform.
States Made More Than $5.7 Billion In Marijuana Tax Revenue Over 18-Month Period, New Federal Census Bureau Report Shows
The post Lone Democrat Opposed Marijuana Bank Bill in Senate Committee Explains Vote first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
