Democratic senators say the path to passing a bipartisan marijuana banking bill in the final weeks of the year is narrow but not impossible to traverse—with one member identifying a potential vehicle for the reform and another saying supporters are in the process of lining up a vote.
Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act sponsor Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) weighed in on the measure’s prospects in separate interviews with Marijuana Moment this week.
Merkley said he has “no idea” whether the legislation will move during the lame duck session, but that it’s possible if there’s “momentum” to insert the reform into the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Otherwise, it will be “really hard” to pass the banking bill as a standalone given competing legislative priorities for the remainder of the year. And the senator said it was also unlikely to be included in the next continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded, because there’s resistance to adding policy items to such legislation.
Brown, whose committee approved the SAFER Banking Act last year, was also asked if he thinks there’s a chance it could still advance through Congress this
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