About one-tenth of congressional staffers believe a marijuana banking law will be passed this year. This is a different outlook from that of supporters, who have been encouraged by the bipartisan momentum.
Punchbowl News was the first to report on this survey. It asked 11 top legislators their opinions about issues that were pending in this Congress, and whether they thought these issues would be resolved this year.
Just 13 percent of respondents said that it would be likely to pass during the first half the two-year term of the current Congress. The staff of Democratic offices was slightly more optimistic, at 18%. Only 9 percent of GOP employees said that they believe the bill will become law by the end 2023.
Respondents were more optimistic on topics such as reauthorization of federal aviation, increased funding for the Pentagon, increasing support to Ukraine, and reauthorization of the Farm Bill.
According to the article, the newspaper’s report states that the image used by Punchbowl to promote the survey depicts “members” of Congress. However, the actual questionnaire was sent to “senior Hill Staffers.”
This year, the prospects of cannabis banking legislation seem dim. A breakdown of the Canvass Capitol Hill findings in @PunchbowlNews Midday.https://t.co/x1mhEcBdd5
The Punchbowl News October 4, 2020
This snapshot of the polling data is likely to reflect more accurately the current timeline than the overall support for legislation. In both chambers, more than 13 percent of the members co-sponsor the bill.
Floor time is competitive and limited in both chambers. There are only a limited number of issues that Congress will be able to address in the remainder of the year. This is especially true now that the House GOP has a new leadership. The chances of SAFER Banking Act being passed quickly are low.
The leadership transition that saw Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, removed from his speakership this week has raised questions about the fate the cannabis banking legislation. The current announced candidates, unlike McCarthy, have opposed protecting banks who work with state-legal marijuana businesses.
Last month, the SAFER Banking Act cleared a major hurdle by advancing with bipartisan support through the Senate Banking Committee. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (DNY) has promised to bring it quickly to the floor. After that, it will be sent to the House.
Schumer also detailed his plans to amend SAFER Banking Act, by adding legislation to encourage state and local cannabis exclusions and gun rights for marijuana users.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-IA), sent Schumer a letter last week to express his concern over the Senate’s “ongoing priority of legislation relaxing marijuana laws over a different 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 a distorted interpretation of Schumer’s remarks on the floor last week 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 “letting drugs traffickers out of jail.”
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.”
Raphael Warnock, a member of the Banking Committee (D-GA), has been pushing for provisions that will strengthen the social equity provisions in the bill. After his amendments were rejected in the markup of the Banking Committee, he became the only Democrat to vote against the legislation.
A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 22 states is calling on Congress to also pass the Cannabis Banking Reform.
Hawaii Company Completes First State-Legal Transfer Of Marijuana Between Islands
Photo by Philip Steffan.
The article Only 13 Percent of Top Capitol Hill Staffers Believe Marijuana Bank Bill Will Pass During Current Congressional Session – Survey Results first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
