A bill that would allow banks to take state-legalized cannabis businesses as customers advanced through the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday, the furthest such legislation has made it in the Senate.
The committee voted 14-9 to advance the bill that was the result of a bipartisan compromise to bring progressive Democrats, including Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on board. While the bill advanced through committee with bipartisan support, some Democrats raised concerns about the legislation’s failure to address the harm caused by the criminalization of marijuana, injecting uncertainty into its prospects on the Senate floor.
“Cannabis banking is just one part of the necessary conversation about marijuana policy. There’s still much work that needs to be done to acknowledge and mend the damage done by the war on drugs,” Brown said. “Regardless about how you feel about states’ efforts to legalize marijuana, this bipartisan bill is necessary and will make it safer for legal cannabis businesses and service providers to operate to protect their workers.”
