On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville told reporters that he would vote in favor of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Banking Act) of 2023. The SAFE Banking Act is a bill that would prevent federal banking regulators from prohibiting or penalizing a bank from providing financial services to a state-sanctioned cannabis business.
“Yea, I am a supporter of the SAFE Banking Act,” Tuberville said when asked by a reporter during his weekly press call.
The legislation creates a safe harbor for financial institutions to provide services to licensed, state-legal cannabis businesses.
“We need to get it passed, but the Democrats obviously control the Senate floor, and there is no way we can get it down there,” Tuberville said. “You know, a lot of them want to legalize marijuana entirely, which is a separate issue, but safe banking is about the access to basic banking service for businesses that are legal in the states where they operate.
On Monday, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission approved 21 applications for entities to open legal medical marijuana businesses in the state of Alabama. None of those businesses will be able to bank with their neighborhood bank. Those businesses likely will not be able to write checks or use a debit or credit card. Alabamians with a legitimate medical need and a recommendation from their doctor for medical cannabis will likely have to withdraw cash from their accounts to take to the legal medical marijuana dispensary in order to buy their medical marijuana. The dispensary cannot legally bank that money. Criminals and street thugs also know that people about to walk into a dispensary will likely have hundreds of dollars on their person and that the dispensary likely has thousands of dollars in untraceable paper currency at the premises.
“Under current federal law, banks and credit unions are not allowed to bank for legal cannabis businesses or businesses that provide services to legal cannabis businesses,” Tuberville explained. So we’ve got to protect people’s cash.”
Tuberville said that this is a public safety issue.
“I have been in contact with people from all over the country that have worked with cannabis over the last few years, and it is a major public issue of people storing cash in their businesses…..underground,” Tuberville said. “We have got to make it safer, and if it is going to be legal in the state of Alabama, which medical marijuana is headed our way, then we have got to make sure people are safe. That is what the Safe Banking Act is all about, but getting it on the floor…Senator [Chuck] Schumer is not very cooperative with Republicans, and so we will see what happens with that.”
The bill was reintroduced in the House and Senate on April 26, 2023. Senators Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) sponsored the legislation in the upper chamber, and Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) and David Joyce (R-Ohio) in the House.
“Montanans should be able to conduct their small business without fearing for their safety,” Daines said in a statement. “Our bipartisan bill would provide the security and peace of mind that legal Montana cannabis businesses need to freely use banks, credit unions, and other financial products without a fear of punishment. This bill will help keep our Montana communities safe, keep crime off the streets, support Montana law enforcement and small businesses, and bolster local economies.”
Tuberville was elected to the Senate in 2020.
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