The SAFE Banking act, and now SAFE Banking Plus bill, have been toyed with for years now. It’s one of those sure bets that has been used as a ploy on both sides of the aisle.
But there was lots of movement around the bill recently, and many thought that it would be passed in the lame duck session (the period between the election and the installment of the those who won their elections) while there was still a Democrat majority in both the Senate and the House, but that seems to no longer be the case.
The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Democrat Sherrod Brown, stated in an interview that he wants to “take it up and get it through” in 2023, saying that there’s interest in the Republican House.
It seems Brown himself didn’t like when the bill was solely about allowing cannabis companies to work with banks. And now that equity and expungements have been added to the bill, he’s more enthusiastic about getting it through.
However, as Marijuana Moment reports, this is a different tone than Brown was singing earlier this week when he states that they were very close to making a deal in this lame duck session.
So is the Banking chairman just pushing this bill forever down the road? It’s hard to say, considering it would only be harder to pass once the House is controlled by Republicans, especially with the equity tacked onto it.
The banking bill continues to be a very frustrating saga. At this point, the main blockage is coming from the democrat side, which doesn’t want it to pass without other marijuana legislation involved because it will take away some of their leverage. Meanwhile, retail stores operate in cash and are left susceptible to more and more break-ins.
Read the original story at Marijuana Moment.
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