“Despite the fact that the American people across a majority of states, both red and blue, have voted to enact sensible cannabis reforms, the federal government continues to interfere in this arena which has denied state-legal cannabis companies the same access to financial services as every other legal business in our country,” said a past statement from Joyce.
Scott stressed that state-based legal marijuana businesses need to have a relationship with banks to provide “safety and stability for a company’s employees and the customers it serves.” He said Congress “has a responsibility to ensure that all legal industries have access to financial institutions and services,” including those in industries like firearms and oil and gas, which he said the “radical left” has tried to block from getting banking services.
“Without solving the larger decriminalization issues, we worry that the passage of the SAFE Banking Act alone could make problems worse by giving us a sense of resolution while huge conflict in federal law still exists,” said Sullivan, whose company partners with banks to provide services to cannabis businesses.
Ademola Olefeso, of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union , which represents over 10,000 cannabis workers, called cannabis banking “an equity issue.”