Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said that federal legislation addressing some of the banking challenges facing the legal cannabis industry is a priority this year. However, despite Sen. Schumer’s support, new concerns have emerged within his caucus that may endanger proposed solutions.
The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act has been billed as the answer to banking woes for cannabis companies and a version of it has been introduced in every Congress since 2013. The U.S. House of Representatives first passed the bill in 2019 and has passed it seven times in total. Some of these votes have occurred on a standalone version of the bill, while others incorporated the SAFE Act’s language into larger bills, including budget and COVID-19 pandemic-related bills.