Senate Could Vote To Let Marijuana Businesses Use Banks This Week
Tom Angell , CONTRIBUTOR
I cover the policy and politics of marijuana
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
A bipartisan group of senators is stepping up the push to let marijuana businesses store their profits in banks, with a possible vote coming as soon as this week.
Under the current federal prohibition of cannabis, many banks refuse to do businesses with marijuana growers, processors and sellers that operate legally in accordance with a growing number of state laws. As a result, many cultivators and dispensaries operate on a cash-only basis, which makes them targets for robberies.
That could soon change under a proposal that ten U.S. senators filed on Wednesday.
The measure, led by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), would prevent federal officials from punishing a financial service provider "solely because the depository institution provides or has provided financial services to a cannabis-related legitimate business."
Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin, in an appearance before a House committee last month, testified that the issue is at the “top of the list” of his department’s concerns.
It is an amendment to a larger bill being considered on the Senate floor this week that would remove some restrictions that were enacted on financial institutions as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
Despite a U.S. Department of Justice move in January to undo protections for state marijuana laws, a top Trump administration official has repeatedly indicated he wants to solve cannabis businesses' banking access problems.Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin, in an appearance before a House committee last month, testified that the issue is at the “top of the list” of his department’s concerns.
