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    August 1 2019

    Alert: Senate Banking Chair Supports Cannabis Banking Legislation

    phs7xCv32Q News

    Issue: Following last week’s hearing in the Senate Banking Committee,
    Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) backed legislation to provide a safe harbor to
    financial institutions offering services to cannabis businesses. In an interview
    today, Crapo said: “I think all the issues got well vetted. We now need to, I
    think, move forward and see if there’s some way we can draft legislation that
    will deal with the issue.”

    Impact: Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), sponsored
    the legislation, known as The Secure and Fair Enforcement (“SAFE”) Banking
    Act. Gardner viewed the lack of participation among his GOP colleagues at
    least week’s hearing as a positive, saying “There was some criticism that the
    Republican attendance wasn’t there, but if they wanted to blow it up, they
    would’ve been there. So, I look at that as sort of an acknowledgment that this is
    now just a status quo issue and not something that they’re going to try and
    interfere with.”

    Next Steps: Crapo’s support makes it substantially more likely that The SAFE
    Banking Act could become at least semi-permanent law through the
    appropriations process. The House included a provision that would grant the
    same protections to financial institutions in the FY 2020 Financial Services &
    General Government appropriations bill. The House also passed a bipartisan
    amendment to ban Federal law enforcement from interfering with state
    cannabis programs in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and
    Related Agencies [Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural
    Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military
    Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban
    Development Appropriations Act. However, this legislation would likely face
    more resistance from Senate Republicans.

    Crapo is also open to an Administrative approach which could entail the Drug
    Enforcement Agency (DEA) within the Department of Justice (DoJ)
    rescheduling cannabis or constituent chemicals under The Controlled
    Substances Act. It is unclear, however, how much regulatory latitude the DEA
    has because marijuana was originally added to the list by Congress, unlike
    other substances which have been added to the list at the DEA’s discretion:
    “There are other ways it could be solved. For example regulatory—they could
    deal with the issue at the Department of Justice, but I don’t know.” Ultimately
    however, only a permanent change to the statutory code is likely to provide
    legal certainty to financial institutions.

    Please contact ACG Analytics for more information.
    www.acg-analytics.com

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    • Alert: Senate Banking Chair Supports Cannabis Banking Legislation

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