Cannabis News of Note for the Week:
Politico Pro Cannabis: Options for SAFE Get Slimmer (paywalled newsletter, text below)
Politico Pro Cannabis: SAFE Not Dead Yet (paywalled newsletter, text below)
Washington Post: Are banks really ‘de-banking’ customers? Here’s what to know.
Wall Street Journal: Trump Advisers Seek to Shrink or Eliminate Bank Regulators(paywalled, full text attached)
Ask A Pol: Sen. Heinrich: All-cash cannabis companies “just attracts really bad elements” (the top audio link is paywalled but scroll halfway down the page and you can listen to the full audio via a secondary link)
Cannabis Reports of Note for the Week:
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Politico Pro Cannabis Newsletter on 12/11: OPTIONS FOR SAFE GET SLIMMER
An effort to attach the cannabis banking bill to a continuing resolution to keep the government funded is over. A Democratic source closely involved in the negotiations confirmed to POLITICO on Tuesday that Speaker Mike Johnson and Leader Mitch McConnell “strongly rejected it” after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed for it during CR negotiations this week.
The stopgap spending bill is already facing big problems, as leaders continue to fight over billions of dollars in disaster aid. Given the impending shutdown deadline of Dec. 20, it isn’t particularly surprising that leaders refused to open the door to another add-on that could face opposition from some lawmakers, especially Republicans.
The National Defense Authorization Act, meanwhile, cleared its first hurdle on Tuesday, but without the cannabis banking bill in tow. There are still some remaining arguments to be had on the NDAA over things like medical treatments for transgender children — and there’s a slim chance some particularly nimble negotiating could be done to get the banking text added as an amendment — but with deadlines looming the chances are not strong.
Remember what lead co-sponsor Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told us last week:“I will keep trying until the last day to find a miracle,” Merkley said. “But the size of the required miracle is growing.”
Politico Pro Cannabis Newsletter on 12/13: NOT DEAD YET —
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer may be rolling the safe banking act out to the undertaker, saying on X earlier this week that the cannabis banking bill was killed by part of the funding CR, but bill cosponsors Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) both said it’s not dead JUST yet.
“We’re not done with discussions,” Daines told Natalie outside the Senate subway on Wednesday, declining to add any other details. Merkley also reiterated that he’ll continue working to get this across the line until this Congress ends.
The House, meanwhile, passed the NDAA on Wednesday without cannabis banking attached. It also failed to include a provision banning marijuana testing for military personnel that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) championed. The continuing resolution to fund the government, meanwhile, is facing a deadline that is just over a week away. Schumer confirmed earlier this week that cannabis banking would not be in the CR.