CUNA, trades call for House passage of SAFE Banking Act
CUNA joined several financial trade organizations Thursday to call on House leadership to pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (H.R. 1595), a bill to provide legal protections to financial institutions serving legal cannabis-based businesses. While CUNA takes no position on legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis, it strongly supports removing barriers for credit unions to serve such businesses where legal.
“The SAFE Banking Act of 2019 provides a mechanism for the cannabis industry and its service providers to deposit their cash in regulated financial institutions, which allows our members to meet the needs of their communities and helps those communities reduce cash-motivated crimes, increase the efficiency of tax collections, and improve the financial transparency of the cannabis industry,” the letter reads. “Without congressional action, a significant portion of economic activity, including those businesses with only indirect connections to the cannabis industry, such as vendors, suppliers, and utility companies, risk being marginalized from the financial system in states with legal cannabis industries.”
CUNA has testified twice in support of the bill, before the House Financial Services Committee in February and before the Senate Banking Committee in July.
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