The bid to offer cannabis industry players access to US financial organizations’ services came back to the seat of the nation’s government with the reintroduction of the pot banking reform bill.
The draft law would safeguard banks that provide services to the operators, which are legal at a state level. It is considered a more bipartisan cannabis endeavor in Congress as compared to any such effort from the past. Two Democratic Party members and two GOPs will lead the effort this year. More people may be included in the list of representatives who will sponsor the effort.
In the 2019 Congress, a 321-103 bipartisan vote resulted in the passage of the bill. Up to 206 cosponsors took part in the voting process back then. The lopsided vote was a notable act for any draft law, considering the politics back then. It was unfortunate that the coronavirus pandemic stalled the progress of the earlier version of the draft law. Anyhow, the representatives involved kept working hard in adding the bill’s legalese to two epidemic relief bills.
Congressional Cannabis Caucus’s co-chair, Representative Earl Blumenauer, earlier said that the bill was a major success for the cannabis sector until the passage of the so-called MORE Act.
Thousands of organizations and workers across the nation have been compelled to do transactions with large amounts of money for too long, stated representative Ed Perlmutter. He highlighted the importance of passing the bill to align both state and federal legislation, as well as lessen the safety risk of the public. He also appreciated the cooperation of both the cannabis sector and nationwide businesses that expressed their opinion in the effort. The bill is a significant step to regarding cannabis businesses as legal enterprises as well as starting to reform federal cannabis legislation, Perlmutter added.
Those who support the act have long been knowing the extent of risk for cannabis businesses in dealing in cash-only transactions. In 2020 summer, thieves ransacked many dispensaries in the US under the guise of protests. Before those events, organized criminal groups targeted cannabis operators with publicly accessible licensing details. Thieves stole many products and much cash, on one occasion, bagging a 6-figure amount that the company concerned was preparing to pay the state as tax.
Blumenauer talked about how bad the state of affairs has become for cannabis organizations in Portland.
As for Blumenauer, denying legal cannabis enterprises access to US banking services is irrational, dangerous and unfair. Therefore, tackling it is both an economic and a pressing public safety matter that would save people’s ways of making a living. Cannabis stores in Portland were robbed, looted or burglarized over 100 times in 2020, said Blumenauer.
In those violent events, the perpetrators involved put cannabis employees at gunpoint, tied them up and targeted them for just performing their jobs. It is tragic that one of those employees died because of the violence. More individuals would keep being targeted in the event of Congress not addressing the absence of access to cannabis banking services, said Blumenauer. As for Blumenauer, that would put cannabis employees, organizations and communities at risk. Therefore, it is an important cannabis reform component that cannot be delayed, the representative said.
There are more incentives for cannabis operators from the bill enactment than the fact that they could make checks from reputable financial organizations payable to others. It would also simplify accessing conventional types of financing and capital. That would considerably affect family-owned/independent businesses that have been bootstrapping until now. Why? Because it would make more legit credit lines and money accessible to them for business expansion.
Cannabis and Banking
The National Cannabis Industry Association’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Aaron Smith expressed his opinion about the news. For your information, the NCIA has long been putting effort toward the enactment of the bill.
Small businesses require whatever support they could get, and cannabis organizations have been creating considerable revenues in tax for the federal and state governments as well as offering essential services, said Smith. At that time, the approval of the draft bill is more important than before, he said.
No access to US banking services keeps creating serious and unwanted problems regarding transparency, public safety, and the much-needed access to conventional financing for smaller operators, Smith said. Those businesses make billion-dollar contributions to the US’s economy each year, so they should be treated as a legal and regulated industry. Smith thanked the legislation sponsors for their consistent and solid bipartisan support each year, and he expressed his confidence in the bill having a clear route to reapproval.
The new US Cannabis Council delivered its interim president and CEO Steven Hawkins’s statement, which is as follows.
It may not be the lone cannabis law that the USCC expects in the Congress session, but it is essential for the responsible pot industry’s future success, said Hawkins. The essential measure would positively affect social equity applicants who tend to be redlined from getting financial assistance and access to conventional banking services.
This act offers access to the services like small business loan options, which make equal opportunity, confirming more diverse cannabis industry representation, according to Smith. The yearly retail revenues of billions come from mainly cash transactions, which creates targets for illegal activities that unnecessarily endanger communities. Therefore, the draft law also preserves public safety, added Smith.