Attorneys General from 33 states and Washington D.C. signed a letter in support of the Safe Banking Act, which would normalize relations between cannabis businesses and banks. It would not end industry-hated tax rule 280(E).
AP
California AG Xavier Becerra(D):
“This is simple: not incorporating an $8.3B industry into our banking system is hurting our public safety and economy…[The bill] would reward taxpayers and small and local licensed businesses who play by the rules.”
The bill, however, does not have support from big Wall Street banks, WSJ reports. If the bill passes, the banks fear they would still be subject to federal money-laundering laws which would only end with federal legalization.
The legislation (H.R.1595), introduced by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) is due before the House Rules Committee this month.
Denver Post
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said they would re-introduce legislation to legalize REC federally but no one expects it to pass the GOP controlled Senate.
HuffPost
Elsewhere in banking: Business Insider learned that Elavon, a payment processor subsidiary of US Bank, dropped its CBD-business clients after aggressively recruiting them through a company called PaymentCloud.
Quick Hit
- State by state legalization is a mess, Amanda Chicago Lewis writes in Rolling Stone.
