House Committee to Mark Up Cannabis Legislation Despite GOP Delay Request

Despite a Republican request to delay consideration of the bill, the House Financial Services Committee is still scheduled to mark up legislation Tuesday to ease the way for financial institutions, including credit unions, to provide services to marijuana related businesses.

Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the ranking Republican on the panel and Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), the ranking Republican on the panel’s financial institutions subcommittee requested a delay last week, saying that they wanted to better understand the consequences of the measure.

“The impact that many state laws, which have legalized marijuana, have on the federal laws governing the manufacturing, use, and sale of marijuana, including proceeds, raise many questions and concerns,” McHenry and Luetkemeyer wrote in a letter to Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). “Any change to these statutes, or those that impact them, has the potential to divide the Congress and the country.”

H.R. 1595 was introduced by Democrats Ed Perlmutter of Colorado and Denny Heck of Washington; it now has 143 co-sponsors, including 12 Republicans.

The two lawmakers have introduced similar legislation in the past but have said that they are more confident of passage this year because Democrats control the House.

However, Republicans still control the Senate and have blocked legislation and amendments to other bills that would have eased the way for marijuana-related banking.

Under current law, because cannabis is considered illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act, financial institutions providing services to licensed marijuana businesses are subject to criminal prosecution or sanctions by their regulators.

As a result, some cannabis-related services, many of which are cash businesses, cannot be provided with traditional banking services.

The Republicans said that the recent Financial Services Committee’s hearing on marijuana-related banking raised many outstanding questions about the implications of the bill.

For instance, they asked what changes to banking laws would be needed to implement the legislation. And they asked about the implications the legislation may pose for law enforcement agencies on the local, state and federal levels.

“As Members of Congress, and the Committee of primary jurisdiction, we owe it to our constituents and to the public to fully understand the implications of any legislation before supporting or opposing it,” the GOP members wrote.

Also, at Tuesday’s markup, the Financial Services Committee will consider H.R. 1500, panel Chairwoman Maxine Waters’s (D-Calif.) legislation to undo many of the changes former CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney made at the agency.