The SAFE Act To Be Introduced In The Senate

On April 19th, the House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act. This anagram stands for Secure and Fair Enforcement, and it won by a vote of 321-101. This bill was fortunate to have had bipartisan support after it was co-sponsored by a large group comprised of both Democrats and Republicans in the House. One Republican representative in the House, from North Carolina, vocally opposed the bill during its debate in the House. The next step is for the SAFE Banking Act to move to the Senate.

If the bill is passed in the Senate, the SAFE Act would permit financial institutions to provide banking services to clients in the cannabis business without the fear of federal penalties. It would thus be safe for these banks to conduct business with cannabis clients. The Senate\’s position on the bill presently remains unclear. As was covered here, the SAFE Act was first introduced in 2019, but it failed to pass through the Senate, after having won in the House. The Senate did not vote for the act that year because the former Senate Majority leader voted not to introduce the bill on the Senate floor.

Currently, the Democratic Senate Majority leader is much more in favor of cannabis legislation, but is still somewhat hesitant about the SAFE Act. He remains an advocate of federal legalization, and has indicated that he and two senators plan to introduce a bill for federal legalization of the bill on the Senate floor soon. The Senate Majority Leader\’s main concern is that the SAFE Banking Act may not be broad enough to include smaller and minority-owned businesses, once cannabis is legalized at the federal level. He wants to see reinvestment opportunities and initiatives for communities which can benefit by a more comprehensive bill. The Senate Majority leader also stated that he might suggest that the SAFE Banking Act be combined with federal legalization of cannabis, in order for it to be introduced on the Senate floor.