The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act failed to find inclusion in the last big bill of the lame duck session of the 117th Congress. The bill, which offers safe harbor to banks offering products and services to the cannabis industry, was excluded from the National Defense Authorization Act, which was considered its last chance at passing during the current congressional term.
The bill has routinely received widespread bipartisan support by both the public and lawmakers but has never been able to achieve passage in both chambers.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the lead GOP sponsor of the SAFE Banking Act, criticized it being left out of the appropriations measure.
“The failure to pass my bipartisan SAFE Banking Act means communities in Montana and across our country will remain vulnerable to crime where legal businesses are forced to operate in all-cash,” Daines said in a press release. “This bill to promote public safety would have been well positioned to pass had it gone through the regular committee process—as I called for more than a year ago. Our small businesses, law enforcement and communities deserve better.”
Advocates are now looking to the 118th Congress which will be gaveled into session in January 2023 as the next possibility of passing the banking reform bill. However, it will face a divided Congress with one influential opponent.
Rep Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who will serve as chair of the House Finance Services Committee in the next Congress, has routinely voted against the bill in committee and on the floor. In a recent interview with Punchbowl News, McHenry did indicate that, though he remains opposed to the bill, he would consider allowing it to advance if that is the will of his Republican colleagues.
“What I’ve pledged is having an open process. I told my members my view of it,” McHenry said. “Members are able to come to their own conclusion about the bill. It’s so variable state by state.”