Congressional Lawmakers Want ‘Urgent’ Update From Biden On Marijuana Pardons As Holidays Approach

A new version of a Congressional Defense Bill does not include marijuana banking reform following negotiations between the House of Representatives and the Senate. But the main sponsor of cannabis reform did not go down without a fight and tabled an amendment in committee to include the marijuana language in legislation – though ultimately not insisting on a vote.

While the House of Representatives passed its first version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in September, using language to protect banks that partner with state-legal cannabis companies, those provisions weren’t added to a new two-chamber deal tabled Tuesday.

This latest iteration will now go through both chambers one more time before possibly being sent to the president’s desk.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), main sponsor of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, did not force a vote on the change on the House Rules Committee – but its last-minute introduction sparked a passionate debate within the body on which several members expressed frustration with the way the Senate leadership approached the issue.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) harshly criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for insisting that comprehensive, justice-focused marijuana reform should be tackled, before something like the SAFE Banking Act is passed.

“I’m not sure what the hell his problem is,” McGovernor said, referring to Schumer. “But what he’s doing is making it very difficult for many small businesses – including minority companies – to get involved in cannabis, move forward and expand, and hire more people.”

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives who is a senior negotiator at NDAA, also expressed frustration at the way the Senate leadership has approached the cannabis banking issue.

“The ramifications of not having the SAFE Banking Act are incredibly dangerous in practice,” he said, adding that small businesses “are essentially a cash business” and “cannot do normal banking.” is available to them in states where marijuana is legal. “

“I actually thought seriously about saying, you know, we’ll just put it in and the Senate can take care of it,” said Smith. “But the bottom line is, if the Senate majority leader has this opinion – and it’s worth noting that the minority leader has a similar position in the Senate – they don’t want this included, the process doesn’t work. ”

Smith and other lawmakers said that while they support cannabis legislation, inserting it over Senate objections could undermine the entire defense law, a scenario they did not want to risk.

“Why the majority leader, Mr. Schumer, is rejecting exactly that is still a mystery to me,” thought Perlmutter.

“It doesn’t make sense because of the public safety aspect, the minority business aspect,” he said. “Without banking, many small businesses – veteran-owned organizations, women-owned companies – have no access to capital.”

“You heard my anger and anger and anger because people are being killed. You are being robbed. And we don’t take any steps, ”he said. “We’ve made some progress now, but this thing has been there for three years.”

Despite his frustration, Perlmutter said that it was not his intention to “really throw everything with procedural wrenches” to push reform forward, so he did not push for a vote on the amendment in committee. However, the congressman said he “will not fly the white flag on this matter” and “we will continue to bring this up”.

Perlmutter, who announced his plan to table an amendment to the rules committee shortly after the next negotiated defense bill was released on Tuesday, said he spoke with House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) about pursuing other avenues to the Senate to finally take up its legislation.

So I plan to submit an amendment to the NDAA to the rules committee that would include #SAFEBanking back in the bill. https://t.co/PJpfZk2Umk

– Rep. Ed Perlmutter (@RepPerlmutter) December 7, 2021

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MA) applauded Perlmutter’s leadership on the matter, saying, “We have to do everything we can to move it forward.” He added that “we need to find another vehicle to do that”. [reform] Real.”

Smith later added that the process of negotiating cannabis banking with the Senate through the NDAA has “made progress on this matter – and the Senate is under much more pressure to do something”.

Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), who is not on the rules committee but co-chairs the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, said it was “incredibly disappointing” that cannabis language was removed from the NDAA.

“The longer the Senate gives federal cannabis companies access to the basic banking services that every other legal US company has, the more it threatens public safety, stifles economic justice and exacerbates the unsustainable patchwork of federal / state cannabis laws,” he said called.

Like many Americans, I can’t understand why the Senate withholds aid to struggling #smallbiz, many of which are minority-owned, to take advantage of a law that wasn’t passed. This all-or-nothing approach hinders the chances of #progress and passing critical cannabis reform

– Dave Joyce (@RepDaveJoyce) December 7, 2021

For those disappointed with the Senate’s inaction, you know that many of us continue to work across party lines to pass an achievable and meaningful # cannabis reform that creates bipartisan consensus on this issue and life and the Livelihoods improved across the country.

– Dave Joyce (@RepDaveJoyce) December 7, 2021

Regardless, the new defense law also rules out an NDAA amendment submitted by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) that would have streamlined the application process for researchers who want to study cannabis and manufacture the plant Study to use. It also does not contain a separate, Schatz-led amendment to state legalizing medical marijuana for military veterans who adhere to a state program where they live.

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Lawyers and lawmakers were split over whether banking should move forward through the NDAA.

Proponents argue that passing the reform is necessary for public safety as many marijuana companies operate largely on a cash-only basis with no access to traditional financial institutions, making them targets of crime.

By calling for an all-or-nothing approach, the Senate is missing a crucial opportunity for #PassProgress.

It’s time to reform our outdated cannabis laws.

Let’s take this opportunity and include #SAFEBanking in the final NDAA. pic.twitter.com/4A1Bklojfu

– Rep. Ed Perlmutter (@RepPerlmutter) December 6, 2021

But some groups like the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) have urged leadership to postpone banking reform until comprehensive legalization legislation that promotes social justice is passed.

There were many voices in favor of promoting marijuana banking through this defense tool.

A coalition of finance and trade unions – including the American Bankers Association, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union – recently sent a letter to the Senate leadership advising them to include the SAFE Banking Act in the NDAA urged.

CUNA and other cooperative associations sent a letter early last month with a similar request.

Non-partisan members of the Senate Armed Forces Committee also recently sent a letter of their own urging leaders to incorporate the SAFE Banking Act into the final NDAA. Shortly thereafter, U.S. Senators representing Colorado made the same motion in a separate letter.

Last month, a bipartisan coalition of two dozen governors pleaded with congressional leaders to finally pass banking reform on marijuana through large-scale defense legislation.

A group of small marijuana business owners also recently argued that the gradual change in banking policy might actually help support social justice efforts.

Rodney Hood, a board member of the National Credit Union Administration, recently wrote in a comment on Marijuana Moment that legalization is inevitable – and that it makes most sense for government agencies to hurry ahead of policy change to resolve banking complications now.

Meanwhile, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official said the agency would like to be “paid” and it would help if the marijuana industry had access to banks like companies in other legal markets so they could more easily comply Tax law.

The US Treasury Secretary said last week that exempting banks to work with state-licensed marijuana companies would “naturally” make the IRS’s job of collecting taxes easier.

However, federal data shows that many financial institutions remain reluctant to take cannabis companies as customers, likely because the plant is a tightly controlled substance under federal law.

While Schumer stubbornly pushed for sweeping reforms to be passed first – like the legalization bill he is working on with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) – has he signals that he is open to passing banking reform through NDAA if it contains provisions on social justice.

With that in mind, a non-partisan duo tabled a bill last week designed to encourage states and local governments to clear cannabis records in their jurisdictions. And the Republican sponsor of that legislation, Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), ridiculed Schumer in the days that followed for adding banking reform to the NDAA.

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Congressional Lawmakers Want ‘Urgent’ Update From Biden On Marijuana Pardons As Holidays Approach