The bipartisan coalition, which includes 32 attorneys general of states and territories in the U.S., is calling on Congress pass a bill that would allow cannabis-related businesses licensed to operate to have access to financial services.
In a letter sent to House and Senate leaders on Thursday— led by the attorneys general from Washington, D.C., Georgia, Maryland and Ohio—the officials said they want to see the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act taken up this session.
In the letter, the group states that they are “a bipartisan group” of attorneys general in state and territories who have the same interest as you in the protection of the economic and physical wellbeing of their constituents, while encouraging economic growth in the respective states. “We urge Congress therefore to advance this bill, which will provide state-regulated marijuana businesses with greater access to regulated financial services and banking in states that have legalized cannabis.”
The need to integrate cannabis trade into the bank system is growing. According to the report, “Most states and some territories have made cannabis legal in one form or another.” “As more states continue to consider and implement legalization efforts, the lack of access to America’s financial system by cannabis businesses—which is a direct result of federal banking law—presents a considerable safety issue for the public.”
They said that many marijuana companies are forced by federal law to only accept cash, which puts them at greater risk of crime.
The authors wrote that “allowing access to the country’s regulated banks system is vital to public safety, and to ensuring lawful businesses within our states can access regulated banking services.”
According to the letter, the SAFER Banking Act will help prevent state governments from losing hundreds of millions dollars of tax revenue generated by the cannabis industries.
The attorneys general have stated at the beginning of their letter that they support the SAFER Banking Act. By 2025The bill was not reintroduced in this Congress, and it is unclear if any of its provisions will be altered from the previous version which died at the conclusion of the last Congress.
To address these challenges we ask that Congress pass the SAFER Banking Act, or legislation similar to it. Congress should create a safe harbour for institutions who provide financial products or services to covered businesses in states that have implemented legislation and regulations that promote accountability within the cannabis industry. A safe harbor that is effective would allow law enforcement agencies to monitor cannabis transactions and businesses more efficiently. With the tracking of bank funds, compliance with tax law would be easier. This will result in increased tax revenue.
This letter ends by saying that the SAFER Banking Act “is commonsense and bipartisan. It will have a positive impact on the safety for the 75 percent of Americans in states with legalized cannabis.” The SAFER Banking Act respects the sovereignty of the state and current federal status on cannabis. The bill does not promote legalization nor facilitate sales of cannabis in states who have not chosen to do so.
The SAFER Banking Act addresses specific challenges in public policy faced by states due to the federal ban on banking cannabis funds. It does this in a manner that helps move money from legal cannabis businesses in the banking system where it is highly regulated, making it more transparent for state regulators, law enforcement, and other stakeholders. The SAFER Banking Act is a bipartisan effort that we look forward working together on.
Signatories to the letter include attorneys general from Alaska, American Samoa and the following states: Arizona, California (including Colorado), Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York Northern Mariana Islands Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Dakota U.S. Virgin Islands Washington, West Virginia, Vermont
“When legal cannabis businesses are forced to operate in cash, it’s not just inefficient–it’s dangerous,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) said in a press release. The SAFER Banking Act will help protect Arizona’s workers, communities and tax collection while also ensuring that the industry can be effectively supervised and collected taxes.
Michigan Attorney-General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said: “By decreasing the risks of criminal activity and increasing tax compliance, SAFER Banking Act can improve both public safety as well as transparency.”
“With billions in revenue, giving cannabis businesses a secure place to bank isn’t just smart policy—it’s common sense,” she said.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, meanwhile said that he has “been advocating to Congress for many years to allow cannabis businesses to have access to the commercial banking systems because of the risks they take simply by doing business.”
This reform, which is based on common sense, will help Colorado better protect consumers and the public, while also improving public safety.
A Democratic Senator who sponsored the bill on marijuana banking recently announced that, while efforts were made to organize meetings in support of the law, for the time being, other issues have been prioritized.
Asked about recent comments Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH)—the lead GOP sponsor of the SAFER Banking Act this session who told MEDCAN24 that he doesn’t expect the bill to come up until this fall—Sen. Jeff Merkley said that he hopes the bill will be introduced sooner rather than late.
In January, the office of Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), who is again leading the effort on the House said, told MEDCAN24 that he would be filing the cannabis banking legislation this session but that its introduction was “not imminent” as some earlier reports had suggested.
A leading anti-marijuana group recently sounded the alarm about a possible attempt to put the cannabis banking measure in a cryptocurrency bill that was advancing on the Senate floor, but that didn’t come to fruition.
It’s an open question whether cannabis reform legislation has a shot at passing in the near future, with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and opponents of legalizing marijuana occupying key leadership roles. This is despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement of marijuana industry banking, federal rescheduling, and a Florida Legalization Initiative on the campaign trail. He has been quiet on this issue since he took office.
On the House side, a Republican lawmaker said in March he’s hopeful that Congress will be able to get a marijuana banking bill across “the finish line” this session, arguing that the current barriers to financial services for the industry represent a “second tier” of prohibition.
Cannabis industry banking challenges came up in several congressional hearings in March, including a Senate Banking Committee meeting on debanking where senators on both sides of the aisle addressed the lack of financial services access for marijuana businesses.
Meanwhile, in January congressional researchers released a report detailing the subject of debanking—while making a point to address how the marijuana industry’s financial services access problem “sits at the nexus” of a state-federal policy conflict that complicates the debate.
Separately, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced in December that it’s convening focus groups comprised of marijuana businesses to better understand their experiences with access to banking services under federal prohibition.
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Cannabis banking is still a problem for the industry, despite the fact that the issue was not resolved under the previous administration.
A Senate source told MEDCAN24 in December that Republican House and Senate leadership “openly and solely blocked” then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) attempt to include the bill in a government funding bill as the session came to a close.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) had challenged the idea that there was enough GOP support for the SAFER Banking Act to pass on the Senate floor during the lame duck session.
Warren accused certain Republican members of overstating support for the legislation within their caucus, while also taking a hit at Trump for doing “nothing” on cannabis reform during his time in office as he makes a policy pivot ahead of the election by coming out in support of the marijuana banking bill and federal rescheduling.
In an interview with MEDCAN24, Sen. John Hickenlooper said that the lack of Republican support is the biggest obstacle to passing the marijuana banking legislation. And he said if Trump is serious about seeing the reform he recently endorsed enacted, he needs to “bring us some Republican senators.”
Prior to becoming House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) consistently opposed cannabis reform, including on incremental issues like cannabis banking and making it easier to conduct scientific research on the plant.
Meanwhile, on the one-year anniversary of a Senate committee’s passage of the SAFER Banking Act in September, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis on the economic impact of the reform, including the likely increase in federally insured deposits from cannabis businesses by billions of dollars once banks receive protections for servicing the industry.
Separately, the CEO of the financial giant JPMorgan Chase said recently that the company “probably would” start providing banking services to marijuana businesses if federal law changed to permit it.
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