There’s a plethora of marijuana-related bills currently active in the United States House and Senate, but some have far more sponsors than others.
As the DEA continues to consider whether or not marijuana should be rescheduled, federal lawmakers continue to push a variety of bills designed to reform marijuana laws through the legislative branch.
Below is a look at the legislation in both the US Senate and House of Representatives with the most sponsors.
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The SAFE/SAFER Banking Act – 134 Sponsors
The SAFER Banking Act is sponsored by 35% of the entire US Senate, including having support from several Republicans and all three independent senators. A House version of the bill, the SAFE Banking Act, has 99 sponsors.
Although they differ slightly, both bills would provide explicit federal legal protections to banks and other financial institutions that provide financial services to marijuana businesses that are legal under their state’s law. This includes debit card services, business loans, etc.
The legislation received approval by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with bipartisan support in September. 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 in November that the chamber is “getting close” to a vote.
The SAFER Banking Act has the support of the National Conference of State Legislatures, as well as a bipartisan group of 22 attorneys general. It’s also supported by a majority of US adults.
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The MORE Act – 83 Sponsors
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, filed by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D) in September, has 83 sponsors.
The MORE Act would completely remove marijuana as a federally controlled substance. This would decriminalzie it nationwide, while allowing states to decide whether or not they want to legalize it. The measure would place a 5% federal excise tax on state-legal marijuana sales for the first two years, with it increasing to 8% by the fifth year.
The Act also includes several provisions to protect marijuana consumers, including preventing them from being denied public benefits and allowing marijuana convictions to be expunged (removed) from people’s records
Representative Nadler has described the MORE Act as “one of the most comprehensive marijuana reform bills ever introduced in the U.S. Congress”, which “aims to correct the historical injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color and low-income communities by requiring resentencing and expungement of prior convictions.”
Although the measure has only a small chance of being passed through the Republican-controlled House of Representives, the MORE Act is likely the top vehicle Democrats will use to reform federal marijuana laws if they take back the House and retain the Senate this November.
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Veterans Equal Access Act – 29 Sponsors
In November, by a vote of 82 to 15, the full United States Senate gave approval to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies spending bill. The measure includes a provision put forth by Senator Jeff Merkley (D) that would allow doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs to legally recommend marijuana to their patients, something that’s currently prohibited.
In July, the House of Representatives passed a similar, but slightly different, version of the same provision. The two chambers must now reconcile the two versions and vote again before it can be sent to President Biden for consideration.
Specifically, the Senate version of the provision states that “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used in a manner that would interfere with the ability of a veteran to participate in a medicinal marijuana program approved by a State”, or “deny any services from the Department to a veteran who is participating in such a program”, or “limit or interfere with the ability of a health care provider of the Department to make appropriate recommendations, fill out forms, or take steps to comply with such a program.”
A standalone federal bill called the Veterans Equal Access Act has 29 sponsors in the House.
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Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act – 26 Sponsors
Filed in April, the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act would allow veterans “to use, possess, or transport medical marijuana and to discuss the use of medical marijuana with a physician of the Department of Veterans Affairs as authorized by a State or Indian Tribe, and for other purposes.”
The measure is similar to the Veterans Equal Access Act. The House version of the bill has 15 sponsors, while the Senate version has 11.
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The STATES Act – 8 Sponsors
The STATES Act was filed State Representative Dave Joyce (R) last month with a bipartisan group of cosponsors. The measure would amend the Federal Controlled Substances Act so that those acting in compliance with state drug laws laws would no longer be committing a federal crime. This includes both marijuana consumers and those operating state-legal marijuana businesses.
The measure would also explicitly allow marijuana commerce between legal marijuana states and tribes, and it would amend an IRS regulation (section 280E) that prohibits businesses from taking tax deductions if they run a federally illegal business, even if the business is properly following their state’s laws. In addition, the STATES Act would direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study on the impacts of marijuana legalization on traffic safety.
In October Representative Nancy Mace (R) filed a somewhat similar measure, the States Reform Act, which would “Federally decriminalizes cannabis and fully defers to state powers over prohibition and commercial regulation.”
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RESPECT Resolution – 8 Sponsors
The RESPECT Resolution (H.R. 960) “Urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal cannabis marketplace”, has been filed by Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA).
The RESPECT (“Realizing Equitable & Sustainable Participation in Emerging Cannabis Trades) Resolution, “Urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal cannabis marketplace”, was filed in the US House of Representatives earlier this month, with the measure cosponsored by Congressmembers Alma Adams (NC), Janice “Jan” Schakowsky (IL), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA), Earl Blumenauer (OR), James “Jim” McGovern (MA), Eleanor Norton (DC) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ).
Congressmember Lee in a press release says the resolution “aims to elevate the importance of equity within the legal cannabis marketplace, address disparities and proactively address and repair the most egregious effects of the War on Drugs on communities of color”
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