The Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee by a 14-9 vote on September 27.
The bill seeks to ensure that all legal cannabis businesses will have access to deposit accounts, insurance and other financial services. Currently, most banks in the country do not offer banking services to cannabis companies because marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
“There are so many Nevada business owners in our state who have opened cannabis businesses to create jobs and support their families. And yet too many of these business owners still can't use critical banking services that all other businesses can access, operating as cash only businesses is cumbersome and dangerous for them,” said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), one of the bill’s sponsors, during the committee’s hearing.
Cortez Masto also outlined the challenges and dangers that cannabis businesses in Nevada face because they can’t access traditional banking.
"I've heard from business owners who fear for their safety when carrying large amounts of cash to deposit at banks. I've talked to employees who struggle to open savings and checking accounts and even qualify for mortgages and it doesn't have to be that way,” she said.
The SAFER Act will now move to the Senate.
