Banking Archives - Colorado Leads

Statement Regarding the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s Approval of the SAFER Banking Act

September 27, 2023/in Banking, Legislation, Uncategorized /by Admin

DENVER — Colorado Leads released the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s approval of the Safe and Secure Enforcement and Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act.

Statement from Chuck Smith, president of the board of directors for Colorado Leads:

“We applaud the Senate Banking Committee for advancing the SAFER Banking Act. Ensuring state-legal cannabis businesses have adequate access to banking and other financial services is critical to protecting public safety and the safety of cannabis businesses and their employees. It would also help smaller businesses and social equity operators, who are more severely impacted by the lack of loans, banking, and other financial products.

“Legal cannabis businesses need banking and financial services just as much as other legal businesses, and this bill would be a big step toward achieving parity. We hope Congress will work quickly to get this legislation approved and over to the president for his signature.”

Give us banking, already!

March 10, 2020/in Banking /by Admin

So says 50 state banking associations, which demanded the U.S. Senate vote on marijuana banking legislation. The group sent a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee on Friday, imploring them to advance a bill protecting financial institutions that service state-legal marijuana businesses.

“Although there are admittedly broader public policy questions at play, we ask that you evaluate and address this pressing banking problem, which is within your power to resolve,” the letter concludes. “Doing so will reap immediate public safety, tax and regulatory benefits while Congress continues to grapple with broader decisions about national drug policy.”

Federal banking bill update

February 25, 2020/in Banking, Politics /by Admin

The American Bar Association approved resolutions calling on Congress to pass a marijuana banking bill and clarify that lawyers can advise cannabis business clients without violating federal law.
U.S. Reps. Ken Buck, R-Windsor and Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, and 10 other Republicans sent a letter to Mike Crapo, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, pushing back on the SAFE Banking Act.

“We have reservations with the unprecedented approach of allowing banking access for a Schedule I drug, in addition to increasing investment in marijuana enterprises even as they remain federally illegal,” the representatives wrote. They also expressed concern over marijuana potency, impaired driving and the continued effects of the vaping crisis.

In a statement, Buck said the banking bill “jeopardizes public safety.” More »

And they’re off!

January 29, 2020/in Banking, Businesses, Legislation, Uncategorized /by Admin

This year’s legislative session isn’t expected to have as many cannabis bills – or the drama (well, maybe) – as last year. But five new bills ranging from prohibiting employers from firing employees for using marijuana during off-hours to reducing felonies for criminal marijuana possession have been introduced. And bills addressing diversity in cannabis-industry ownership and statewide expungement of former marijuana crimes are expected in the near future.

Highlights of proposed legislation are below. For more detailed info on all cannabis-related bills, go here.

HB 1080. Removes the requirement that managers and employees of a medical marijuana business or a retail marijuana business with day-to-day operational control must be Colorado residents when they apply for licensure.
HB 1089. Prohibits an employer from terminating an employee for conducting off-duty activities that are lawful in Colorado even if those activities are not lawful under federal law.
More info here »
SB 016. Adds providing alcohol and the sale, dispensing distribution or transfer of marijuana or marijuana concentrates by an employee to a student to the parent notification requirements by schools.

“High time” to legalize cannabis, says New Mexico Guv

During her State of the State, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told lawmakers that legalization of marijuana provides a lucrative economic opportunity for the state and is supported by a vast majority of state residents.

New Mexico only has a 30-day session, so lawmakers need to hustle if they want to be the 12th state in the country to legalize cannabis for adult use.

And yes, she really did say that.

Where is the federal banking bill?

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter and three other congressmen who’ve been pushing to give cannabis businesses access to banking services sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to address the chairman’s concerns about the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act and urging him to take action.

The chairman, Mike Crapo of Idaho, recommended adding public health and safety requirements to the bill, including potency disclosures and a possible 2% THC limit on products before banks could do business with cannabis companies.

The representatives said they are hesitant to expand the scope of the bill, saying “we should exercise caution before adding limitations on the legislation’s safe harbor that impose unworkable burdens on financial institutions.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and five other attorneys general also weighed in a separate letter to the U.S. Senate, stating “the SAFE Banking Act is a narrowly tailored solution that would provide immediate public safety benefits without supporting expansion of the existing cannabis industry.”

What are the chances something happens this year?

Industry observers say it’s unlikely the Republican-controlled Senate will pass a major piece of marijuana reform this year, but they expect the momentum to continue.

More »

One example of why the cannabis industry needs banking

The number of break-ins at Denver marijuana businesses hit a three-year high in 2019, according to the Denver Police Department.

“We probably won’t see any relief in these kinds of robberies until these businesses aren’t forced to deal only in cash,” said John Goutell, general counsel for Frosted Leaf.

Marijuana 2.0

October 17, 2019/in Banking, Businesses, Investment, Uncategorized /by Admin

Axios looks at Colorado House bill 1090, which takes effect next month. The new law permits investment opportunities for publicly traded companies, venture capitalists and private equity firms, which were previously barred.

Historic Vote!

September 26, 2019/in Banking, Legislation /by Admin

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a historic bill Wednesday providing legalized cannabis businesses access to banking services.

Colorado Congressman Ed Perlmutter, lead sponsor of the SAFE Banking Act, said:

“After six years of working on this bill, the SAFE Banking Act will go a long way in getting cash off our streets and providing certainty so financial institutions can work with cannabis businesses and employees.”

It’s still an uphill climb in the U.S. Senate, but Senate Republicans may be softening. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Wednesday:

“I think you can be against marijuana and still understand that if it’s going to be a legalized product, we need to be able to control it through our banking system.”

And the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has said he wants to advance banking legislation by the end of the year, although it may not be Perlmutter’s bill.

More »

Bipartisan Group of 21 AG’s Implore Congress to Act

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and 20 other attorneys general signed a letter sent to congressional leaders on Monday, supporting the STATES Act, which would allow legal cannabis businesses to access banks, shield legal cannabis businesses from federal interference and deter criminal activity associated with a largely cash-only business.

“We are a bipartisan group of state and territorial attorneys general who share a strong interest in defending states’ rights, protecting public safety, improving our criminal justice systems, and regulating new industries appropriately,” the letter reads. “Legislation like the proposed STATES Act is simply meant to ensure that if a state or territory does choose to legalize some form of marijuana use – which at least 33 states and several territories have done – its residents are not subject to a confusing and dangerous regulatory limbo.”

All the news…

September 4, 2019/in Banking, Businesses, Crime, Health, Medicinal, News, Politics, Tax /by Admin

Guaranteed to be the top-clicked story in the newsletter

We were going to ignore this . . . but just couldn’t. Cannabis and sex. Read More »

Getting what you need

Americans for Safe Access have put out a U.S. travel guide for medical cannabis patients so they have access to safe and legal cannabis.

“There are currently 47 states and four territories with some form of a medical cannabis law, but the rights and privileges they extend to medical cannabis patients vary among them. As a result, patients who travel for personal or employment reasons can find themselves unsure as to how to access medical cannabis in an unfamiliar place.” More »

Thinking outside the box

States with marijuana dispensaries flush with cash are exploring banking workarounds using credit unions, digital currencies, and payment apps. More »

We got this

An interesting Q and A with Natalie Riggins, program manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment MMJ Registry, who discusses implementation of new legislation on medical marijuana.

Westword Article »

Related: Doctors can recommend cannabis in place of opioids Read »

Cannabis love connection

When cannabis is featured as the way two people met, fell in love and got married in the Vows section of The New York Times, you know things have changed.
Read »

NIMBYers take note

The impacts of regulated retail dispensaries is associated with a decrease in local criminal activity, according to a new study in Regional Science and Urban Economics. The study was conducted in Denver.

“Overall, our results suggest that dispensaries cause an overall reduction in crime in neighborhoods, with no evidence of spillovers to surrounding neighborhoods. … Our results are consistent with theories that predict that marijuana legalization will displace illicit criminal organizations and decrease crime through changes in security behaviors or substitution toward more harmful substances. … Lastly, there is no evidence that increased marijuana use itself results in additional crime.”

More »

CBD and Parkinson’s

CU Anschutz researchers jumped through seemingly endless government hoops to study CBD and Parkinson’s. What they found is that participants reported they felt less irritable and that they were sleeping better. They even saw that some of their motor symptoms, including stiffness and slowness, improved.

The researchers are helping others navigate the red tape to do more studies.

File under “trust, but verify”

President Trump said last week that his administration is allowing states to set their own marijuana policies.

“We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject and right now we are allowing states to make that decision,” Trump said. “A lot of states are making that decision, but we’re allowing states to make that decision.”

Streamlining Denver

City regulators are streamlining the application and inspection processes for marijuana license transfer of ownership. Information »

Bloomberg looks at how states are working to create solutions to take tax payments from marijuana businesses.

July 29, 2019/in Banking, Investment, Legislation, People /by Admin

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs last week ushered in industry leaders and advocates to testify about the challenges cannabis companies face trying to get basic banking services in states where medical or recreational marijuana is legal. Those testifying urged lawmakers to change federal laws so the industry could access traditional financial services.

While the hearing was the first-of-its-kind in the GOP-controlled Senate, passing federal legislation still remains an uphill battle. Except for the committee chairman, U.S Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, none of the other GOP committee members attended the hearing. He urged lawmakers to change federal laws to give the budding industry access to traditional financial services.

More »

Headlines

June 19, 2019/in Banking, News, Uncategorized /by Admin

NY couldn’t get it across the finish line

A recent poll showed that 55 percent of voters supported legalization, but New York’s plan to legalize marijuana collapsed Wednesday, “dashing hopes for a potential billion-dollar industry that supporters said would create jobs in minority communities and end decades of racially disproportionate policing.”

More »

When banks won’t give you lines of credit, why not create your own?

Columbia Care has introduced the industry’s first cannabis credit card.

“Columbia Care initiated its CNC Card on a trial basis in New York State in the second half of 2018. What the company found was that, when compared to other forms of payment, those folks who purchased cannabis products with the CNC Card had a basket size that was 18% larger for in-store purchases.”

More »

At least no one in Colorado built an 8,000 sq. ft. social consumption facility that’s now useless…

The Nevada Legislature pulled the rug out from under Las Vegas with Assembly Bill 533 that overrode the Las Vegas City Council’s work of over two years in licensing social use cannabis venues. Venues now have to wait until at least 2021. From Leafly, “Las Vegas OK’d Cannabis Lounges but Nevada Just Said No.” More »

Come for the stories of entrepreneurs having to shelve their plans indefinitely, but stay for an understanding of the remarkable political pull large casinos have in the way policy is crafted and implemented.

Banking, Banking, Banking

June 5, 2019/in Banking, Legislation, Politics /by Admin

The federal banking bill could have implications beyond cannabis businesses, specifically in the trading game. Analysts see significant opportunities in the U.S. cannabis market if federal regulators here legalize the drug. That could be huge for exchange traded funds (ETFs).

But maybe don’t take it to the bank

A pair of Republican senators told Marijuana Moment that they believe cannabis banking legislation has a shot of getting a hearing in that chamber after House passage.

“He didn’t say ‘hell no,’” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said of a key Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), whom he pressed on the bill. “I thought he was quite open-minded to it.”

Banks that serve lawful marijuana businesses would be protected from a crackdown by financial regulators such as the U.S. Department of Treasury under a provision in a draft congressional spending bill.

“None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to penalize a financial institution solely because the institution provides financial services to an entity that is a manufacturer, a producer, or a person that participates in any business or organized activity that involves handling marijuana, marijuana products, or marijuana proceeds, and engages in such activity pursuant to a law established by a State, political subdivision of a State, or Indian Tribe ….”