Senator John Thune, who will take over as Senate Majority Leader later this month, says he’s “not a fan” of SAFER Banking while appearing unsure of his opinion on marijuana rescheduling.
Senator John Thune (photo credit: Allison Robbert/Bloomberg).
When asked by Matt Laslo of Ask a Pol “What are your thoughts on the SAFER Banking Act?”, Senator Thune responded by saying “I’m not a fan”, while refusing to elaborate further.
Furthermore, when Laslo asked Thune if he had “Any thoughts on the DEA rescheduling marijuana?”, Thune said “Ummm”, while continuing to walk into the US Capitol. He gave no further answer.
It is worth noting that Thune’s comments were made prior to President Trump’s endorsement of both SAFER Banking and federal marijuana rescheduling (Trump also backed Florida’s initiative to legalize recreational marijuana).
Although Thune’s comments don’t provide a ton of clarity in regards to his position on rescheduling, it does indicate that if SAFER is going to make its way through the Republican-controlled Senate in 2025, something supported by President-elect Trump, Thune may serve as a roadblock, albeit not necessarily an insurmountable one.
SAFER Banking would give explicit federal protections to banks and credit unions that provide banking services to state-legal marijuana businesses, including loans, lines of credit and other services. The proposal, which would also allow marijuana businesses to take standard IRS tax deductions, was approved with bipartisan banking through the Senate Banking Committee in September 2023, but it was never put to a vote by the full Senate despite Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promising to do so on multiple occasions.
