Senate Democrats are eyeing a cannabis banking bill that has bipartisan support as a potential vehicle for long-sought restorative justice measures.
Prominent Democrats have been pushing to pass the SAFE Banking Act, which would enable legally operating cannabis firms to use banking services, as part of a larger China competition package being conferenced in both the House and Senate. The bill was included in House Democrats’ competition bill passed earlier this year, but not in the bipartisan Senate-passed version.
Supporters of the banking bill say it’s urgently needed to stop a surge of violent robberies targeting cash-only pot dispensaries. But the measure, which has passed the House six times in recent years, has had trouble securing passage in the Senate due to resistance from both sides of the aisle, though for different reasons.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told The Hill that Democrats are working to add social equity measures to the bill, which is backed by members of both parties.
“We’re trying to add some of the social justice provisions and see if we can come up with a compromise,” Schumer said.
A separate bill to legalize marijuana is also backed by Democrats, but it appears unlikely to notch enough support from Senate Republicans to clear a 60-vote procedural hurdle.
Schumer has held off on bringing the banking bill to the floor amid concerns from some Democrats that its adoption could hurt chances of future passage for a more comprehensive package that offers a pathway for marijuana legalization and social justice reforms.
And while the banking bill has garnered backing from at least nine GOP members who are co-sponsors, it faces opposition from top leaders such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who previously criticized its inclusion in the House-passed competition bill.
Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and David Joyce (R-Ohio), two of the banking bill’s top backers, are pressing senators to include it in the China competition package.
But in case it does not make it in, they’re talking to Schumer about a bipartisan package that would pair the banking bill with provisions to help speed up the expungement of minor cannabis offenses, expand cannabis research and allow veterans to access medical marijuana.
“The conversation between Leader Schumer and Congressman Joyce was part of an ongoing, broader discussion between both parties and chambers to determine what reform can pass this Congress,” Joyce’s office said in a statement.
“It is evidence of the sincere efforts by both the Leader and the Congressman to find common ground for substantial, bipartisan progress on this issue.”
Some Democrats have insisted that the banking bill must be coupled with broader social justice reforms such as measures to expunge previous marijuana convictions.
Among some of the measures lawmakers are eager to add include the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act. The bill from Joyce and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) would authorize $20 million to assist states and local governments in expunging minor cannabis convictions that disproportionately bar people of color from housing, jobs and educational opportunities.
They’re also eyeing the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act, a bipartisan bill…
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