Sponsors Confident Marijuana Banking Bill Will Pass House
The House bill is expected to be introduced in the next two or three weeks.
House sponsors of a plan to ease the way for marijuana-related companies to obtain financial services said Wednesday they are confident that, for the first time, the House will pass their legislation.
And, Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and Denny Heck (D-Wa.) said they are hopeful that the Senate will do the same.
The House bill will be introduced in two or three weeks, Heck told reporters in a conference call following the first-ever House hearing on the issue Wednesday.
“The only thing accomplished with this legislation is a safer environment,” Heck said, discussing legal marijuana transactions, virtually all of which are done in cash.
The bill would “get the cash off the streets and into the banks,” Perlmutter said.
Marijuana is legal in many states, but the cultivation, possession and distribution are illegal under federal law. Financial institutions that serve cannabis-related businesses risk federal sanctions in providing banking services, even though cannabis is legal in their state.
The Perlmutter-Heck bill would provide financial institutions with a safe harbor, ensuring that credit unions and banks are not punished for doing business with cannabis-related businesses.
The lawmakers said they are confident that the bill will gain significant Republican supporter, even from members of the Trump Administration.
Heck said that Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney signaled his support while he was still a House Republican from South Carolina.
And Perlmutter said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed concern about “these piles of cash” involved with the business.
But during Wednesday’s hearing, Republicans said that Congress should not pass legislation making it easier for marijuana-related business to have access to financial services as long as the drug is illegal under federal law.
“We’re putting the cart before the horse,” Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the House Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee said during Wednesday’s hearing. “The states have jumped the gun.”
Luetkemeyer said that before banking legislation is considered, supporters should be pushing for the Justice Department to “de-schedule” marijuana.
“You’ve got to have a law,” he said. “You’ve got to enforce the law, or you’ve got to change the law.”
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, said that the legislation would allow financial institutions to operate in violation of federal law.
He said that financial institutions that do business with marijuana-related businesses face a reputational, as well as a legal risk.
Subcommittee Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said the panel is not considering the broader issue of whether marijuana should be legalized on the federal level.
“We are here to talk about banking,” he said. “This subcommittee just has jurisdiction over banking.”
Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) complained that the legislation would encourage financial institutions to do business with cannabis-related companies, while some financial institutions are deciding not to do business with companies engaged in legal activities, such as gun manufacturing.
Supporters of the bill first introduced legislation in 2013 to allow businesses in states that have legalized marijuana to have access to banking.
However, the legislation has not been enacted; most recently, Senate Republicans blocked an effort last year to attach the proposal to the criminal justice overhaul bill that was enacted.