 The sponsor of the SAFE banking bill, Democratic Representative Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, said he still has optomism for passing cannabis banking reform this year.
Perlmutter recently spoke with Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, and they discussed the need to enact the bipartisan banking reform this session. Perlmutter said that he emphasized importance of the SAFE banking act, and Schumer assured him that the chamber is “working on it” and is “going to get going” on the reform. In an interview with KOA radio on the discussion he had with Schumer, Perlmutter said, “Whether that was just lip service or reality, there is momentum.” He added, “We’re going to get this done. It probably won’t happen until the lame duck session after the elections, but I’ve always felt confident that commonsense will prevail and we’ll get this finished, and I think we will.” The “lame duck” session he is referring to is the period between the November elections and the end of the year. Schumer had filed his own comprehensive cannabis legalization bill in July, called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, or CAOA. That bill is not expected to be taken up this session due to a lack of support, but Schumer is still intent on bringing some kind of cannabis reform legislation to the floor in the coming months. While nothing is finalized, and anything could still happen, there are positive signs by those in the know. That positive step may be with the “SAFE Plus” bill, which has yet to be introduced, but is expected to be a somewhat updated version of SAFE Banking, designed to have a broader appeal so as to garner enough bipartisan support. In addition to Perlmutter’s optimism for the period between November elections and the end of the year, Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Republican Senator Dave Joyce of Ohio both said they also expect the “SAFE Plus” bill to be introduced during the same time frame. Comments are closed.
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