Perlmutter’s retirement could leave the marijuana industry out in the cold

Congressional cannabis champions clearly come from Colorado (how’s that for alliteration?). We saw this kind of leadership with Gov. Jared Polis when he was a congressman and co-founded the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, with former Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, and with our long-time current champion for SAFE Banking Democrat Rep. Ed Perlmutter.

With SAFE Banking voted on and approved now six times in the U.S. House of Representatives and still zero times in the Senate, getting this bipartisan and impactful piece of banking legislation to the president for his signature is not only vital it’s actually do-able.

Let me be clear for those who still don’t understand what SAFE Banking is or how it is significantly beneficial to Coloradans. And by doing so, let me share what it’s not.

SAFE Banking is not federal legislation to legalize cannabis. It is not an expungement bill for past convictions. It is not a decriminalization bill either.

SAFE Banking is a way for legal cannabis businesses in our state and across the country to access traditional banking services like loans, payroll, and credit cards. While cannabis remains illegal on a federal level, the bill provides a safe harbor for these businesses to do payroll, pay bills and not have to operate as many currently do, in cash. Since dispensaries are forced to hold large amounts of cash, they remain prime targets for burglaries and even violence.

There are several obstacles to getting SAFE Banking passed, the biggest is Senate Democratic leaders who would rather see a more comprehensive cannabis bill introduced first. That much talked about legislation remains in draft form as of July 2021 but still hasn’t officially been introduced, in fact it was announced last week that while the bill was due to come out this month, it has been delayed until August.

The more comprehensive bill is being led by Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Ron Wyden, D-OR, and is known as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA). It would remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances, expunge non-violent federal cannabis convictions and direct tax proceeds of cannabis sales to communities hit hardest by the war on drugs.

The Senate has 42 bipartisan senators co-sponsoring the SAFE Banking Act of 2021. The clock is ticking. With cannabis legal in 37 states medically, 18 recreationally and the midterm elections just around the corner, the time for SAFE Banking to pass in the Senate and get signed by the president into law is now.

Rep. Perlmutter has been on a mission to get SAFE Banking language included in several key bills including the HEROES Act, the National Defense Authorization Act and most recently the China competition bill known as the Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act.

The COMPETES ACT along with its companion bill United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) in the U.S. Senate, is now going to conference to iron out differences between the two bills, one of those differences is the SAFE Banking amendment and the big question for the cannabis and banking and financial services industries is: will it stay in the final version of the bill or will it get pulled out as it did in the NDAA?

Given that Sens. Schumer, Booker and Wyden want their bill out front first for a vote, going to a conference committee with the COMPETES Act is the best chance SAFE Banking currently has to get adopted and to the president for signature.

When conferees recently were appointed for the COMPETES/USICA bills, only one Colorado member of our delegation was appointed, Sen. John Hickenlooper. Sen. Hickenlooper was governor of our state when cannabis became recreationally legal and supports the SAFE Banking legislation. He is an important voice as a conferee.

When Rep. Perlmutter retires (which I say with a heavy heart), the industry won’t have that congressional cannabis champion from Colorado any longer.

The hunt is on for who will be the next federal industry leader, perhaps another member from the Colorado delegation will step in (ehem, Sen. Hickenlooper). Regardless, with Rep. Perlmutter’s commitment and steadfast dedication to this issue, SAFE Banking will ultimately happen but the next several months leading up to the midterm elections and Rep. Perlmutter’s retirement will be very telling.

Mara Sheldon is a Senior Policy Advisor at Squire Patton Boggs. She is a member of the Colorado Hemp Association Board of Directors and serves on the Advisory Board for KEY Investment Partners LLC. Previously, she was Communications Director and Spokesperson for the Polis for Colorado campaign.