A bipartisan majority of state attorneys general sent a letter to Congressional leaders on Thursday in support of passing federal protections for banks who do business with marijuana companies.
“We write today in support of the SAFER Banking Act of 2025,” the letter read. “It is increasingly critical to move cannabis commerce into the regulated banking system.”
The letter’s signatories include representatives from most – but not all – of the states with legal medical or adult-use cannabis sales.
Notable absences included the attorneys general from Republican-led states like Arkansas and Alabama.
Marijuana banking reform still needed for public safety
As the AGs noted, federal marijuana prohibition leaves most large banks unwilling to provide even basic financial services to state-legal marijuana businesses.
That leaves many companies with no option beyond dealing exclusively in cash – a “considerable safety issue for the public,” the attorneys general wrote.
“To address these challenges, we request that Congress advance the SAFER Banking Act or similar legislation.”
Once the top priority for the marijuana industry in Washington, D.C. – and a key priority for financial-sector lobbies like the American Bankers Association – banking reform has fallen by the wayside more recently.
That’s in part because multiple efforts to pass banking protections have failed.
Banking reform prospects unclear under Republican control
Despite passing a U.S. Senate hearing in September 2023 – considered a major milestone after banking protections passed Democratic Party-controlled House of Representatives multiple times – the bill was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote.
It remains to be seen whether a Republican-controlled Congress has appetite to consider the issue at all. The latest House version, introduced by Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio in April 2023, was never called for a hearing.
Congress skipped town early this week, with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson calling recess amid increased pressure for President Donald Trump to release information on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Cannabis reform is not understood to be top of Johnson’s to-do list when it returns.
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