On Tuesday the state Senate approved a bill that would make California-chartered cannabis banks a reality. Last week the Association of State Treasurers announced its support of congressional legislation allowing banks to service legal weed enterprises. This week the Senate voted in favor 35-1.
Should Senate Bill 52 pass the upcoming Assembly vote, an industry plagued by restrictions on to bank access would have a game-changing win. In terms of overall impact, passage would further pressure Congress to legalize banking with the industry.
CNBC
- Under the new law, private banks and credit unions would be licensed to work with weed companies if they applied for a limited purpose charter.
- The bill introduced by Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) would arrange for special bud biz checks with which companies would pay rent and state and local taxes and fees.
- If passed, the arrangement would push Congress toward legalized pot banking. “Congress will have to act because there’s all the interstate ramifications of banking that just really cry out for federal lawmakers to do something in this space,” said Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project.
Quick Hits
- MedMen took the first $80M of the $250M in funding that the company will receive from the Gotham Green Partners, a New York private equity group.
MJBiz Daily - “Agriculture is messy; can you imagine trying to follow the life of an almond?” Good question. Track and trace is indeed a grease fire, but grease fires can be born of ambition. We might need to understand how they came to be if we’re going to put them out.
Cannabis Now
