Dems' $3T coronavirus bill includes marijuana banking protections

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Democrats' $3 trillion proposal for yet another coronavirus relief bill includes measures that would allow state-legal marijuana businesses to access financial services — a provision that has been ridiculed by some on the right but hailed by those in the marijuana industry as welcome relief for their "essential" businesses.

The cannabis-related language, which appears on pages 1,066-1,091 of the massive 1,815-page legislation, mirrors the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act – known as the SAFE Banking Act – which passed the House in September with bipartisan support but has languished in the Senate. The bill also includes productions for hemp and CBD manufacturers, which still exist on shaky legal ground in the U.S.

Essentially, the cannabis-related provisions would allow banks and other financial institutions to work with state-legal marijuana businesses and businesses that provide services to the marijuana industry without fear of federal retaliation — a specter that has forced such enterprises to work mainly in cash for years.

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"It's a great step forward and it will definitely increase industry access to banking," Tom Gavin, the CEO of CannaTrac, a company that provides cashless financial services to state-licensed cannabis businesses, said.

The move was also hailed by Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., one of the biggest boosters of the SAFE Banking Act, who said in a tweet that "cannabis businesses & their employees ... need relief just like any other legitimate business."

Gavin noted, however, that the Democrats' bill would not reschedule marijuana — keeping it illegal on a federal level and likely excluding cannabis companies from government programs like the popular Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

"Until cannabis is re-scheduled, banking will continue to be a major roadblock for cannabis companies, even ancillary companies, to be allowed full banking privileges or receive any government assistance, like the PPP loan program," he said.

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Republicans, on the other hand, have criticized the Democrats' bill as a wish list of radical liberal policies that do not focus on actually fighting the economic effects of the coronavirus crisis.

"The word cannabis appears more times in Democrats' bill than the word job," Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said of the legislation. "I think our main focus needs to be getting people back to work."

Cannabis shows up 68 times in the Democrats' bill. Job or jobs shows up 52 times. The bill, which was written by House Democrats without input from House or Senate Republicans, or the White House, almost certainly will not become law without major changes.

The bill also would require federal banking regulators to "issue an annual report to Congress containing ... information and data on the availability of financial services for minority-owned and women-owned cannabis-related businesses," a provision Republicans have criticized.

Supporters of the cannabis industry have noted that most states with legal cannabis have deemed those businesses essential, as they have for liquor stores and other businesses, outside of restaurants, that sell alcohol. Medical Marijuana Inc. CEO Stuart Titus said it was "encouraging" that states were designating cannabis an "essential service." A number of lawmakers last month urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to let such businesses access PPP funds.

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"The COVID-19 outbreak is no time to permit federal policy to stand in the way of the reality that millions of Americans in states across the country face daily—that state-legal cannabis businesses are sources of economic growth and financial stability for thousands of workers and families, and need our support," a letter to the lower chamber's leaders read.

But critics of the marijuana industry like Kevin Sabet, who advised the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations on drug policy, have warned that letting those businesses access financial services is a corporate giveaway in sheep's clothing.

“It’s going to create another big tobacco and big pharma industry and it never ends well for public health,” he told Fox News as the SAFE Banking Act passed the House last year. “Today’s marijuana is much more harmful than it used to be. It’s not Woodstock weed anymore.”

Fox News' Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.