The imminent House passage of historic legislation to allow banks to serve marijuana businesses is splitting marijuana advocates, some of whom argue that the vote will slow the broader push to legalize weed.
Multiple civil rights groups told the Washington Examiner that they were blindsided by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters’ decision to advance the banking bill, the SAFE Banking Act, sponsored by Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, because her staff had promised that it wouldn’t move ahead of a more comprehensive bill to decriminalize marijuana, the MORE Act, sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler.
“She went back on her word,” said Queen Adesuyi, policy coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance.
“Perlmutter and Waters just want to appeal to Republicans’ demands and get the SAFE Act passed, versus prioritizing working with civil rights groups to solve the problems those most impacted by marijuana criminalization have,” Adesuyi said.
A group of organizations, including the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and Drug Policy Alliance, sent a letter last week to Democratic leaders asking them to delay the banking bill vote until broader marijuana legislation advanced first.
Several of these groups told the Washington Examiner that, during two closed-door meetings they had with Waters’ committee, the staff committed to delaying advancing the SAFE Act until the House Judiciary Committee would move on the more comprehensive bill.
Despite objection from these advocacy groups, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced last week that the SAFE Act bill will receive a vote on the House floor this week. It is expected to pass Wednesday. The bill currently has 206 cosponsors, including 26 Republican members.
Waters and Perlmutter, who shepherded the banking bill to the House floor this week, see the SAFE Act as just the first of many cannabis reform bills that will go through Congress.
Both are in support of broader cannabis legislation but have cited the slower pace within the House Judiciary Committee to advance Nadler’s bill as a justification for moving ahead on the banking bill.
“As I have said before, this bill is one important piece of what should be a comprehensive series of cannabis reform bills,” Waters said in a statement on Tuesday.
She also added that she supports decriminalizing marijuana federally, wants to courts to expunge marijuana-related convictions, and supports social justice programs that would help those most affected by the war on drugs, as provided by the Nadler bill.
Perlmutter and Nadler did not respond to requests for comment.
The civil rights groups pushing back against the SAFE Act bill say they don’t have any problems with what’s in the bill, which would prohibit banking regulators from penalizing banks just because they serve marijuana-related businesses, but are upset with what’s been left out of it: reform for the millions of people impacted by marijuana arrests and convictions.
And they are fearful of the strategy of pursuing comprehensive reforms only after passing the banking bill.
“There is a real fear that Congress might think of this as the only bite of the apple, that the SAFE Act would take the air out of the room for comprehensively solving this problem,” Adesuyi said.
Will Heaton, vice president of government affairs and policy for the criminal justice reform group JustLeadershipUSA, told the Washington Examiner that Waters’ staff “clarified that they had no intention of pushing for the SAFE Act ahead of the MORE Act, but now they’ve done just that.”
Asked for comment on the claims, Waters’ office referred to her statement Tuesday.
Most Democrats in Congress, as well as many marijuana industry groups, differ from the civil rights groups in their strategy. They see the banking bill as a stepping-stone that will create momentum and support for more comprehensive, far-reaching marijuana legislation.
National Cannabis Industry Association representative Morgan Fox told the Washington Examiner that the bill would do more than just help big banks and businesses.
“Speed to market is very important in our world. For small businesses and minorities, easy access to funding is life or death in this industry and that’s what this bill will help with,” Fox said.
Even if the banking bill passes the House on Wednesday, its likelihood of gaining traction in the Republican-controlled Senate remains uncertain.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made it clear he’s no fan of marijuana. He and a number of other Republicans have opposed marijuana legalization efforts in the past.
McConnell is, however, a fan of marijuana’s “cousin,” hemp, which he helped legalize last year, and for which the SAFE Act has explicit protections. Republican Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky told McClatchy that the marijuana banking bill’s sponsor, Perlmutter, included hemp provisions to aid Senate passage.
The Senate version of the SAFE Act, S. 1200, which has been spearheaded by Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon, has 33 cosponsors, including five Republicans. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho indicated recently that he plans to hold a vote on cannabis banking legislation on his committee before the year’s end.
