35% of the entire United States Senate is sponsoring the SAFER Banking Act.
The SAFER Banking Act (S.2860) would provide explicit federal protections to banks and other financial institutions that decide to provide services to marijuana businesses that are legal under their state’s law. This includes allowing banks to provide debit card services, business loans and so forth. This is particularly important given most marijuana businesses must now operate entirely as cash-only operations, putting employees and business owners at constant risk
The SAFER Banking Act was filed in September with 13 sponsors. It has since gained 22 additional cosponsors.
Of the 35 sponsors, 28 are Democrat, four are Republican and three are independent.
The proposal was passed through the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with bipartisan support just a week after it was filed. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed soon after the committee’s vote to put the measure to a vote of the full Senate “very soon”, and he reiterated last month that the chamber is “getting close” to a vote.
In a speech last week on the Senate floor, Schumer gave a list of the Senate’s top priorities going into 2024; among these priorities is “passing SAFE Banking and cannabis reform”.
The SAFER Banking Act has the support of the National Conference of State Legislatures, as well as a bipartisan group of 22 attorneys general.
According to polling released last week, “by greater than a 2-to-1 margin (55% support vs 23% oppose) U.S. adults support Congress passing legislation that allows cannabis businesses to access banking services.”
Here is the full list of those sponsoring the SAFER Banking Act:
- Jeff Merkley [D-OR]
- Kevin Cramer [R-ND]
- Steve Daines [R-MT]
- John Fetterman [D-PA]
- Cynthia Lummis [R-WY]
- Robert “Bob” Menendez [D-NJ]
- Catherine Cortez Masto [D-NV]
- Tina Smith [D-MN]
- Jon Tester [D-MT]
- Elizabeth Warren [D-MA]
- Cory Booker [D-NJ]
- Angus King [I-ME]
- Jacky Rosen [D-NV]
- Charles “Chuck” Schumer [D-NY]
- Kyrsten Sinema [I-AZ]
- Dan Sullivan [R-AK]
- Ron Wyden [D-OR]
- Tammy Duckworth [D-IL]
- Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
- Mazie Hirono [D-HI]
- Mark Kelly [D-AZ]
- Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
- Patty Murray [D-WA]
- Martin Heinrich [D-NM]
- Gary Peters [D-MI]
- Michael Bennet [D-CO]
- Christopher Coons [D-DE]
- Timothy “Tim” Kaine [D-VA]
- John Hickenlooper [D-CO]
- Ben Luján [D-NM]
- Debbie Stabenow [D-MI]
- Tammy Baldwin [D-WI]
- Alejandro “Alex” Padilla [D-CA]
- Bernard “Bernie” Sanders [I-VT]
- Brian Schatz [D-HI]
A House of Representatives version of the bill, filed in April, now has 98 sponsors.
