Today, lawmakers in the Senate addressed the financial struggles of marijuana businesses, with bipartisan remarks underscoring the industry’s banking challenges and a need for reform.
While some senators framed the issue within a broader federal policy discussion, others focused on the immediate need for financial access.
During the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing, Chairman Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) repeatedly insisted the discussion should focus on financial barriers for “federally legal” businesses. Despite this, several members from both parties raised concerns about the challenges faced by state-licensed marijuana businesses.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) highlighted the impact of banking restrictions, stating that “lawful cannabis businesses have been unable to open accounts and employees of those businesses have been debanked.” She entered into the record stories from marijuana business owners affected by financial exclusion, adding, “This shouldn’t be happening, and we need to figure out why and who is responsible.”
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) questioned whether marijuana banking was relevant to the discussion, pointing out that “the last time I checked, the cannabis business is illegal at a federal level.” However, he expressed willingness to reexamine federal marijuana laws, cautioning that any reform should not be handled through legislation that “makes it default legal before we take in any firm position here that provides the industry with clarity.”
“If somebody wants to work on rules of the road and do that, and bank the industry in a cohesive, sustainable way that doesn’t kind of skirt around the fact that it’s still illegal at the federal level, count me in. Happy to do it,” said Tillis.
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) referenced prior discussions on the SAFE Banking Act, expressing interest in developing a compromise that would preserve “reputational risk as a factor” while ensuring banks have appropriate guardrails.
At the hearing, Stephen Gannon, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, shared an example of how banking restrictions have affected individuals indirectly, describing a wine vineyard whose owner’s wife invested in the cannabis industry.
“The vineyard and the individuals that own the vineyard all lost their [bank] accounts,” said Gannon. “They had nothing to do with the cannabis industry, but I guess it was a knock-on effect as far as the regulators were concerned, because all those accounts went away.”
The discussion comes as proponents of marijuana banking are awaiting the SAFER Banking Act being filed. The proposal would allow banks to provide financial services to state-licensed marijuana businesses. The proposal was approved by the Senate Banking Committee with bipartisan support in September 2023, but hasn’t received a vote by the full Senate.
