Senate Democrats were able to get federal cannabis banking laws passed with a majority in the upper chamber during Joe Biden’s tenure as president. Under the tutelage of Sen. Chuck Schumer, however, Senate Democrats failed to seize this opportunity.
After the Senate Banking Committee passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER), in September 2023, the former New York majority leader sat idle on the sidelines for fifteen months.
Schumer promised at the time to bring the legislation up for a vote on the floor “with due urgency.” He failed to do so despite the fact that the bill was likely to pass in the last Congress. This included 44 Democrats, fifteen Republicans, and as many as nine votes.
The federal cannabis banking reform that would have provided safe harbor for financial institutions who wish to offer services to this industry had never been more likely to pass the upper chamber.
The Position of all 100 US Senators on the SAFER Banking Act
After the November election, Republicans won a trifecta: they regained a majority of the U.S. Senate (53-47), retained their majority at the House, and retook the White House.
Although President Donald Trump indicated he would work with Congress to pass common-sense laws, including safe banking for state-authorized cannabis companies, access to traditional business opportunities like credit cards, payroll and loans doesn’t appear any closer to becoming a reality for the industry under new Republican leadership in the Senate.
Senate Majority John Thune has been known to oppose banking reforms for the cannabis industry. In 2020, House members attached the SAFE Banking Act as part of a $3 trillion stimulus relief bill. Thune said that, “in case Democrats weren’t aware, Americans right now aren’t experiencing a dearth of marijuana.”
Morgan Fox, NORML’s political director, stated in November, that despite Thune’s previous “misguided policies and opinions” regarding cannabis, he was confident Thune could evolve.
Fox stated that “while it’s extremely unlikely that comprehensive marijuana policy reform would be a Senate priority under his leadership,” we are hopeful that because of his track record as an experienced lawmaker, he is willing to listen to the evidence, the experience and the desire for federal policy reform by the American public.
A cannabis banking reform would have to pass the Senate Banking Committee before Thune could decide to put it on the floor of this Congress. Sherrod B. Brown (D-Ohio), who was the former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and pushed through the SAFER Banking Act during the last Congress, has lost his bid for reelection to Republican Bernie Moreno.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is now the new chair of the Senate Banking Committee, was one of nine senators to oppose the SAFER Banking Act at the markup hearing in September 2023. Previously, he expressed concerns that the legislation “would create loopholes in our money laundering laws, making it harder to catch criminals that traffic weapons, fentanyl and even people—much harder—which is a consequence that we must eliminate if this bill becomes law.”
Scott has announced recently that Senate Banking Committee is holding a hearing on “Investigating The Real Impacts Of Debanking in America” at 10:00 am on Friday, February 5, 2025.
“Debanking is un-American—every It is not legal Scott stated that “businesses deserve to be treated equally regardless of political views.” Scott said that under Operation Chokepoint 2.0 Biden regulators had abused their powers and forced financial institution to stop providing services to conservative businesses, individuals, politicians, digital assets firms and political figures. It is not acceptable. This is unacceptable.
Scott didn’t clarify when he made his initial announcement whether the focus of the hearing would be on businesses “legal”, including state-legal marijuana businesses operating in licensed markets, but that are in conflict with federal cannabis status as Schedule I controlled substances.
Scott clarified that the focus of the hearing would be on only “federally legal” businesses on the 28th January.
This hearing is an opportunity for Americans that have operated federally approved businesses but been denied banking services to tell their stories directly. The Banking Committee will be able to find out more, as well as the American public about any improper influences by the financial regulators.
A “Operation Choke Point”, an Obama-era project, involved federal financial regulatory agencies putting pressure to banks in order for them to cut ties with certain “high-risk industries” like payday lenders and firearm manufacturers. Some conservative legislators last Congress were concerned that this initiative would be resurrected under the SAFER Banking Act.
Those who opposed the legislation in committee—specifically Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho—expressed concerns over the threat of these regulators forcing banks and other financial institutions to debank companies simply because the presidential administration did not favor their business types.
Scott encouraged anyone who has been denied banking to get in touch with his team through the confidential whistleblowers resource.Before the hearing, call (202-224-4287) to make sure that any “bad actors” have been held accountable.[email protected] | call: 202-224-4287) ahead of the hearing to help ensure that “bad actors who have exploited their powers” are held accountable.
Since then Kyle Sherman, Flowhub’s CEO and his team have created a simple form which cannabis employees can use to tell Scott directly about their experiences.
The industry has also reacted to the news about the hearing.
Boris Jordan (Curaleaf CEO and Chairman) said: “For far too long political motives have influenced banking, affecting hundreds of thousand Americans working in the legal cannabis state industry.” “I want to thank Curaleaf employees for their experience with debanking. And I urge anyone who has been affected by this to take advantage of the confidential whistleblower resources to help bring about change.
Vangst’s industry staffing platform estimates that there will be over 440,000 jobs full time in the state-licensed marijuana industries by 2024.
Kyle Kazan (Chairman and CEO, Glass House Group) said, “I was de-banked at Wells Fargo and First Republic. Citibank revoked my 25 year old credit card, but they still let my wife have hers.” All because I work in the cannabis-regulated industry.
Don Murphy, the founder of American Cannabis Collective told X that he was “de-banked” and is now a reformer for #cannabis policies who does not touch plants.
Bank of America, which serves over 70 million customers and is welcoming to conservatives on X a few days before Scott made the announcement of this hearing, posted that it would not close any accounts due to political issues and did not have a “political litmus test.”
Kim Rivers is the CEO of Florida cannabis operator Trulieve. She disagrees.
It’s not that you did this, but you actually did so after having banked for 20 years with me. And all because I run a cannabis business in the state of California, where it is legal and licensed, employing 6,000 Americans. She posted on X.
While it’s now more apparent that the Republican-controlled Senate Banking Committee’s debanking hearing will focus on federally Legal businesses not cannabis. Perhaps it is noteworthy that Stephen Gannon works at a firm which represents cannabis-related businesses.
The other two witnesses—Evan Hafer and Nathan McCauley—founded a veteran-owned coffee company and a regulated crypto platform, respectively.
Although cannabis banking legislation has failed to reach the U.S. Senate floor, the U.S. House passed previous renditions of the SAFE Banking Act seven times between 2019 and 2022—each time with bipartisan support and while Democrats held majorities in the lower chamber.
Senate Democrats were able to get federal cannabis banking laws passed with a majority in the upper chamber during Joe Biden’s tenure as president. Under the tutelage of Sen. Chuck Schumer, however, Senate Democrats failed to seize this opportunity.
After the Senate Banking Committee passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER), in September 2023, the former New York majority leader sat idle on the sidelines for fifteen months.
Schumer had promised to vote on the law “with due urgency” at that time, but failed to do so despite receiving the support of 44 Democrats and 15 Republicans in addition to up to 9 swayable voters.
The federal cannabis banking reform that would have provided safe harbor for financial institutions who wish to offer services to this industry had never been more likely to pass the upper chamber.
The Position of all 100 US Senators on the SAFER Banking Act
After the November election, Republicans won a trifecta: they reclaimed the majority of the U.S. Senate with a 53-47 margin, maintained their majority in Congress, and regained the White House.
Although President Donald Trump indicated he would work with Congress to pass common-sense laws, including safe banking for state-authorized cannabis companies, access to traditional business opportunities like credit cards, payroll and loans doesn’t appear any closer to becoming a reality for the industry under new Republican leadership in the Senate.
Senate Majority John Thune has been known to oppose banking reforms for the cannabis industry. In 2020, he said that, in case Democrats weren’t aware, Americans were not suffering from an absence of marijuana right now.
Morgan Fox, NORML’s political director, stated in November, that despite Thune’s previous “misguided policies and opinions” regarding cannabis, he was confident Thune could evolve.
Fox stated that “while it’s extremely unlikely that comprehensive marijuana policy reform would be a Senate priority under his leadership,” we are hopeful that because of his track record as an experienced lawmaker, he is willing to listen to the evidence, the experience and the desire for federal policy reform by the American public.
A cannabis banking reform would have to pass the Senate Banking Committee before Thune could decide to put it on the floor of this Congress. Sherrod B. Brown (D-Ohio), who was the former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and pushed through the SAFER Banking Act during the last Congress, has lost his bid for reelection to Republican Bernie Moreno.
Sen. Tim Scott R-S.C. was among the nine senators that opposed the SAFER Banking Act in the hearing for the markup of September 2023. Previously, he expressed concerns that the legislation “would create loopholes in our money laundering laws, making it harder to catch criminals that traffic weapons, fentanyl and even people—much harder—which is a consequence that we must eliminate if this bill becomes law.”
Scott has announced recently that Senate Banking Committee is holding a hearing focusing on debanking. The title of the hearing will be “Investigating Impacts Real Debanking on America” at 10:00 am on Friday, February 5, 2025.
“Debanking is un-American—every It is not legal Scott stated, “Businesses should be treated with the same respect regardless of their politics.” Under Operation Chokepoint 2.0 Biden’s regulators misused their authority and forced banks to cut services for digital asset companies, conservative business and individual, as well as political figures. It is not acceptable. This is unacceptable.
Scott’s original announcement did not specify if state-legal marijuana businesses, which operate on licensed markets and are in conflict with federal cannabis status as Schedule I controlled substances but do business in licensed market places, would also be considered “legal”.
Scott made it clear that only federally legal businesses would be the subject of the hearing when he announced witnesses for the Jan. 28, 2008 hearing.
He said that the hearing would be a great opportunity for Americans to speak directly with those who have de-banked and run federally approved businesses. The Banking Committee will be able to find out more, as well as the American public about any improper influences by the financial regulators.
The “Operation Choke Point,” an Obama initiative, saw federal financial regulators pressuring banks to end ties with “high risk” industries such as firearm manufacturers and payday loan lenders. Conservative lawmakers in the last Congress were worried that SAFER Banking Act would bring back a stronger force.
Those who opposed the legislation in committee—specifically Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho—expressed concerns over the threat of these regulators forcing banks and other financial institutions to debank companies simply because the presidential administration did not favor their business types.
Scott encouraged those who had been bankrupted or businesses to reach out through the confidential whistleblower service (email) of his office.Call (202-224-4287) before the hearing in order to ensure “bad actors” who have abused their power are brought to justice.[email protected] | call: 202-224-4287) ahead of the hearing to help ensure that “bad actors who have exploited their powers” are held accountable.
Since then, Flowhub’s Kyle Sherman has worked with his team to create a simple form which cannabis workers can use to tell Scott directly about their experiences.
The industry has also reacted to the announcement of an upcoming hearing.
Boris Jordan, Curaleaf’s Chairman and CEO, said that political motives had influenced the banking system for too long. This has affected hundreds of thousands Americans who work in state-legal marijuana industries. “I would like to thank all of our employees who shared their debanking experiences, and encourage everyone to use the confidential whistleblower tool to help bring about change and to pass SAFE Banking now.”
Vangst’s industry staffing platform estimates that there will be over 440,000 jobs full time in the state-licensed marijuana industries by 2024.
Kyle Kazan (Chairman and CEO, Glass House Group) said, “I was de-banked at Wells Fargo and First Republic. Citibank revoked my 25 year old credit card, but they still let my wife have hers.” All because I am in the regulated marijuana industry.”
Don Murphy, founder of American Cannabis Collective said: “I was de-banked and now I am just a #cannabis reform policy advocate who doesn’t touch the plants.”
Bank of America announced on X, a day before Scott’s announcement of the hearing that they serve more than 70,000,000 clients and are welcoming conservatives. “We wouldn’t close accounts because of political reasons or have a political litmus-test.”
Kim Rivers is the CEO of Florida cannabis operator Trulieve. She disagrees.
You literally did it to me, after I had banked with you for more than 20 years. All because I was the CEO of an American cannabis company, which is state-legal and licensed, that employed 6,000 people! She posted on X.
While it’s now more apparent that the Republican-controlled Senate Banking Committee’s debanking hearing will focus on federally It’s not about cannabis but rather legal businesses. Stephen Gannon is a lawyer at David Wright Tremaine LLP who represents cannabis businesses and businesses adjacent to cannabis.
The other two witnesses—Evan Hafer and Nathan McCauley—founded a veteran-owned coffee company and a regulated crypto platform, respectively.
Although cannabis banking legislation has failed to reach the U.S. Senate floor, the U.S. House passed previous renditions of the SAFE Banking Act seven times between 2019 and 2022—each time with bipartisan support and while Democrats held majorities in the lower chamber.
Cannabis Law Resources in Poland
Discover essential legal information about the cultivation of cannabis, its sale, and regulations governing medical products in Poland. You can use these resources to learn about the requirements for certification, permissions and compliance.
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Polish News Registration and Interests of Cannabis Businesses
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Permissions for Cannabis Sales in Poland
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Authorization for Importing or Manufacturing Medical Products
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Permission for Manufacturing or Importing Medical Products
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Certificate of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
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Registration of Medical Products in Poland