It's Official: Senate Committee Schedules Cannabis Banking Vote For Sept. 27 After Years Of Delay

The Senate Banking Committee has officially scheduled a vote on cannabis banking reform for Sept. 27. The long-awaited reform 

regarding how legal marijuana companies can access financial services, which started and stalled for years in Congress, will finally move ahead after several key Republicans softened their opposition to the bill.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told reporters he wanted a strong vote from the committee.

“I want to see a strong vote come out” of the committee, Brown said. “It helps us with momentum on the floor and the House.”

The announcement comes shortly after reports circulated about plans to hold the markup at the end of September with no specific date chosen.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act has been a major policy priority for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), though he often acknowledged that achieving it "will not be easy" without 

Republican support. Schumer included cannabis banking legislation

along with a package of goals in his recent "Dear Colleague" letter laying out what efforts the majority in the Senate would tackle in September.

The SAFE banking bill is expected to have enough votes from Republicans and Democrats to pass through the Senate. Forty-two senators currently co-sponsor the legislation, including eight Republicans. Those Republicans include Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Steve Daines of Montana, Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine.

Then There’s Tommy

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala) has publicly supported the measures in the SAFE Banking Act but is not formally co-sponsoring the legislation after facing pushback from conservative and law enforcement groups in his home state.

Prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) also urged Tuberville to rescind his support for the legislation, calling it a "backdoor attempt" to legalize cannabis.