Two key senators behind the push for a bipartisan marijuana banking bill seem to be at odds over what it’s going to take to get a committee vote to send the legislation to the floor.
In interviews this week, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and lead GOP Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act sponsor Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) shared conflicting stories about the state of negotiations over the legislation.
Brown told Politico that he’s entrusting Daines to shore up more Republican support and specifically get additional members of his caucus to sign onto the SAFE Banking Act as cosponsors to codify that support.
“We’re not going to take a bill to the floor and have [Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)] undercut it with 58 or 59 votes,” Brown said. “He’s done that many times. So, we want Daines…to sign on the dotted line on this and really commit to get members to co-sponsor. If they’re serious, they co-sponsor.”
But according to Daines, the issue isn’t a lack of Republican support; it’s the fact that Democratic members are pushing for amendments that would break the agreement that the he and the chairman made over the measure as introduced.
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