Business
US mayors, financial institutions throw support behind cannabis banking reform
The U.S. Conference of Mayors and two leading banking organizations have joined the call for the U.S. Congress to pass the cannabis banking reform measure known as the SAFE Banking Act.
SAFE Banking would enable financial institutions to provide services to state-legal marijuana businesses without fear of federal reprisal.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents 1,400 U.S. cities, adopted a resolution this week for Congress to pass SAFE Banking “to provide financial security for cannabis dispensaries and related companies and enhance public safety.”
The office of U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Colorado Democrat who has been leading the charge behind SAFE Banking for years, announced the resolution in a news release Thursday.
In addition, according to Perlmutter’s office, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the Independent Community Bankers of America called on congressional leaders to pass SAFE Banking.
Those two groups specifically called on lawmakers to include the measure in the final version of American competitiveness legislation.
The U.S. House of Representatives included the full SAFE Banking Act in its version of the bill, the America COMPETES (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology) Act of 2022.
The Senate didn’t include cannabis banking reform in its version, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, but a conference committee now is working to resolve that and other differences in the two measures.