The House Rules Committee has effectively rejected two marijuana amendments.
Members of the House Rules Committee recently filed two marijuana-related amendments to the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill, one to prevent most federal applicants from being drug tested for marijuana, and one to allow D.C. to open retail marijuana stores nine years after the nation’s capital legalized marijuana.
Now, the committee has effectively killed the amendments – at least for now – by refusing to allow them to advance as part of the overall spending bill.
The amendment seeking to end federal marijuana testing for applicants was filed by California Representative Robert Garcia (D). The amendment to allow D.C. marijuana sales was filed by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D), Barbara Lee (D) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D).
On the Senate side, the SAFER Banking Act (S.2860) – a bill to allow banks to work with state-legal marijuana businesses – is now sponsored by 34% of the entire Senate. The measure passed the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in September with strong bipartisan support. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to put the measure to a vote of the full Senate “very soon”, and he says he will include provisions to allow for marijuana expungements to establish gun rights for medical marijuana patients.
According to polling released last month, “by greater than a 2-to-1 margin U.S. adults support Congress passing legislation that allows cannabis businesses to access banking services.”
Two separate polls released earlier this year found 64% of adults in the US support legalizing marijuana.
