Bennet, Hickenlooper Push for SAFE Banking Act To Be Included in Bipartisan Innovation and Competition Bill

Press Release

Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined their colleagues in a bipartisan letter urging congressional leadership to include the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2021 in the final version of the Bipartisan Innovation and Competition legislation currently being negotiated between the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

The SAFE Banking Act would allow state-legal cannabis businesses to access banking services. Currently, most legal cannabis businesses must operate exclusively with cash, which has led to ongoing threats of robbery and assault for business owners and employees. In Denver, cannabis businesses make up less than 1% of all local businesses, but accounted for 10% of reported business burglaries from 2012 to 2016.

"The SAFE Banking Act, as included in the House-passed America COMPETES Act, would allow banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to offer banking services to legally-operating cannabis businesses without fear of punishment by federal regulators," wrote Bennet, Hickenlooper, and the lawmakers. "Allowing cannabis businesses operating legally and in compliance with state law to access financial services without federal reprisal would address public safety and compliance challenges, helping communities reduce cash-motivated crimes."

The SAFE Banking Act has passed the House six times -- most recently as an amendment to the House's version of the bipartisan competition bill. This letter urges U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Ky.) to ensure the text of that amendment remains in the final conference version of the Bipartisan Innovation and Competition Bill to be considered by both the Senate and the House.

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