{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.countable.us/bill/photo/hr1595-116/featured_secure-and-fair-enforcement-banking-act-of-2019-1570950235.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.countable.us/bill/photo/hr1595-116/featured_large_secure-and-fair-enforcement-banking-act-of-2019-1570950235.jpg","shareable":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/bills/hr1595-116.png"},"introduced_on":"2019-03-07","title_override":"Should the Feds Allow Legal Marijuana Businesses to Access Banks?","summary_override":"

This bill — the SAFE Banking Act of 2019 — would allow marijuana-related businesses in states where their businesses are legal to access the banking system. It would also protect banks that do business with marijuana firms from prosecution under federal law by providing a safe harbor for banks and credit unions to do business with legal, legitimate marijuana businesses. Currently, because cannabis is illegal at the federal level under the Controlled Substances Act, financial institutions that provide banking services to legitimate and state-licensed marijuana businesses can be subject to criminal prosecution. Because legitimate cannabis businesses can’t bank at federally insured institutions, they’re often forced to operate on a cash-only basis.

Banks would be required to comply with the current Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) guidance, which would be streamlined over time as states and the federal government adapt to legalized medicinal and recreational cannabis policies. Additionally, this bill would:

Prevent the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) from taking action against banks or credit unions (and the employees of such financial institutions) that serve cannabis-related businesses.
Prevent regulators (the FDIC and NCUA) from limiting access to financial institutions by cannabis-related businesses.
Require FinCEN and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) to issue guidance for institutions that provide services to cannabis-related businesses.
Require reporting by financial regulators and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Impose or increase the cost of private-sector mandates on financial institutions and remove a private right of action against financial institutions.

This bill’s full title is the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019.

","official_title":"To create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service providers for such businesses, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Secure And Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 or the SAFE Banking Act of 2019 This bill generally prohibits a federal banking regulator from penalizing a depository institution for providing banking services to a legitimate marijuana-related business. Specifically, the bill prohibits a federal banking regulator from (1) terminating or limiting the deposit insurance or share insurance of a depository institution solely because the institution provides financial services to a legitimate marij...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that on net, this bill would reduce spending by $2 million over the period 2019-2029.","impact":"Cannabis businesses; banking services for cannabis businesses; banks; banks that wish to do business with cannabis businesses; and federal regulations regarding banking services for cannabis businesses.","argument_for":"The federal prohibition on state-licensed cannabis businesses accessing the traditional banking system has forced the industry to be largely cash-based.. Aside from being inconvenient, this also makes cannabis businesses and their employees targets and makes them more difficult to audit. 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Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.\r\n","page_title":"Banking Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/banking/black_banking-1429042064.svg","grey":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/banking/grey_banking-1429042064.svg","white":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/banking/white_banking-1429042064.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"N r","vote_count":12,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/10218494394505363/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/10218494394505363/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/10218494394505363/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/10218494394505363/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/eWMQwLQW/following","followers":"/api/users/eWMQwLQW/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":0,"influence_level":0,"follower_count":0,"following_count":0,"position_count":5,"id":"eWMQwLQW","partner_id":null},{"name":"jimK","vote_count":423,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.countable.us/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/large_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","small":"https://assets.countable.us/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/small_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.countable.us/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/tiny_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/following","followers":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/followers"},"about_me":"Retired, Politically Independent. 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A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":18810,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":652,"following_count":13,"position_count":408,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"ecff3c57-ed62-4d7e-9f1e-c291a48a97e4","argument_for":"Making their business operate with cash creates a dangerous situation for everyone.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":1,"upvotes_for_count":1,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.countable.us/positions/ecff3c57-ed62-4d7e-9f1e-c291a48a97e4"},"body":"Making their business operate with cash creates a dangerous situation for everyone.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2019-09-26T03:38:04.978Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/positions/ecff3c57-ed62-4d7e-9f1e-c291a48a97e4.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr1595-116","user_id":"eWMQwLQW","endorser_ids":["9odrQBnb"]}}

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Should the Feds Allow Legal Marijuana Businesses to Access Banks?