SAFER Banking Act Passes Senate Committee with Tepid GOP Support
October 2, 2023
On September 27, the Senate Banking Committee held a markup and advanced S. 2860, the Secure And Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act. The bill passed 14-9 with three Republicans and 11 Democrats supporting and one Democrat and 8 Republicans opposed.
Why it matters: This is the first Senate vote on cannabis banking legislation and is a major step forward for advancing the legislation in the upper chamber. The House has passed previous versions of the bill numerous times.
Go deeper: The SAFER Banking Act is a revised version of the SAFE Banking Act, with changes intended to address concerns from the Justice Department, Republicans, and Democrats on a number of issues.
- Most recently, Sen. Jack Reed raised concerns about the Section 10 provision that attempts to prevent another “Operation Chokepoint”.
- The SAFER Banking Act sought to quell Reed’s concerns while keeping Republicans on board.
- However, the rewrite may not be good enough to garner GOP support in the House. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) said “As it’s currently written, it is dead on arrival in the House.”
By the numbers: While a number of GOP senators have expressed support for cannabis banking legislation, the committee vote was a first test on how the new bill would fair. The votes fell along party lines with the following exceptions.
- Three GOP Senators supported the final bill: Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT); Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND); and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). While others on the committee were open to the macro legislation, they were unhappy with the legislation as drafted.
- One Democrat, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), voted against the bill because he is concerned it fails to address more pressing issues of racial inequality and other social justice issues.
- Warnock said “This bill will make life safer for bankers, for businesses, and financial institutions, some of whom have been profiting from the cannabis industry illegally for years, which is ironic given many of the regular folks who illegally sold or used cannabis are sitting in jail cells right now.”
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) promised to bring the bill to the Senate floor quickly, where it will require 60 votes to break a filibuster.
The bottom line: The Senate committee vote is a major victory for cannabis banking, but challenges still remain.
- From the Right, the tepid support among Senate Banking GOP and potential opposition in the House GOP could stall the bill.
- From the Left, Sen. Warnock’s concern about inequality could signal a broader progressive pushback on the banking-focus of the bill without broader action.
Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions.