Schumer, Wyden, Booker Joint Statement On SAFE Banking Act

Washington, DC. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following joint statement. Schumer, Wyden and Booker are coauthors of the landmark Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), comprehensive legislation that would end the harmful and out-of-touch federal prohibition on cannabis.

“We were encouraged to see the SAFE Banking Act reintroduced last week after Senator Daines and Senator Merkley worked to make key improvements to the legislation. These improvements include the extension of the safe harbor to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) to ensure that small and minority-owned businesses can access the capital they need to start and maintain successful cannabis-related businesses, and giving people with income from legal cannabis business access to federally-backed mortgages.

“We look forward to watching this legislation progress through the Banking Committee and working with bipartisan partners to include additional improvements, such as the Harnessing by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act, which would support states that want to expunge cannabis record with grants.” 

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