The House passes the Safe Banking Act

Yahoo Finance’s Jessica Smith is joined by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, (D) Oregon and the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss the House passing legislation to provide legitimate cannabis businesses in states like Oregon access to banking services.

Video transcript

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ZACK GUZMAN: Welcome back to The Business of Cannabis here on "Yahoo Finance Live." We're discussing the progress that's been made. It's been slow for advocates out there but progress, nonetheless, in terms of reform at a federal level for marijuana. For the fourth time, we saw the Safe Banking Act, which would allow businesses in the cannabis space to access traditional financing, as well as make some tweaks there-- passed the House for the fourth time by an overwhelming vote this time.

And for more on that and the progress we're seeing in Congress, I want to bring on the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. Representative Earl Blumenauer joins us representing the state of Oregon. And Congressman, going to be chatting here alongside-- I want to bring in Yahoo Finance's Jessica Smith with us as well. And Congressman, talk to me about what this means. Because we've been talking about the Safe Banking Act for years now in the way that it's been passed in the House, but all of the progress has been stalled in the Senate when it was Republican controlled. How is it looking now, with Democrats in charge?

EARL BLUMENAUER: It's the difference between night and day. I mean, we-- it was-- we had more progress in the last Congress than ever before with the MORE Act, with my research bill, with the Safe Banking Act. But it all went to Mitch McConnell's hospice in the Senate. Now, we are in an entirely different dynamic. We have a Senate that Majority Leader Schumer is on board and strongly supportive. The other lead for the MORE Act of legalization is Ron Wyden, the chair of the finance committee, my fellow Oregonian, and Cory Booker, who's been a partner for years.

So having those three people-- and the fact that this is not going to be bottled up. They'll have an opportunity to be dealing with the legislative process, what you saw yesterday in the House. Again, with over 300 votes, that's strong bipartisan. If it gets to the floor, it'll pass. And I think that's likewise what will happen with research and, ultimately, with legalization.

I mean, you've watched this last year result in a tidal wave. We've had more states on the state level that have approved.

ZACK GUZMAN: Sure.

EARL BLUMENAUER: Public opinion is strong. I've been working on this, literally, for 50 years. Oregon was the first state to decriminalize. The momentum has built. 2/3 of the public or more support it. It's going to be a $20 billion a year industry this year. I mean, the stars are aligned for being able to move this forward and I think finally enact it into law.

JESSICA SMITH: Hi, Congressmen. Senator Sherrod Brown, chair of the Banking Committee on the Senate side, has said at one point that if he considers the Safe Banking Act, he would want it to include measures like sentencing reform. If you start including those kinds of measures in the bill, are you worried that that could hurt the chances of final passage?

EARL BLUMENAUER: Well, I think it's not necessary to try and make this a comprehensive bill. We are committed to the MORE Act, which is comprehensive, and strongly support things like restorative justice. But this is a fundamental public safety issue. I mean, in my community, we've had over 100 robberies, including one fatality.

This is happening around the country. It's a public safety issue. It fouls up the building industry. It doesn't just impact state legal cannabis, but real estate, banking. The people-- you know, Scotts Miracle-Gro could lose its bank accounts because there's a number of people in the industry that buy their products. I don't think we need to make this the vehicle for reform. And I'm happy to talk to Sherrod and share the strategy because we can do both, and we can do it this year.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, and Congressman, I mean, when we hear Chuck Schumer talking about the timeline in the Senate, he keeps saying soon for a more progressive bill to be introduced there. And to Jessica's point, I mean, there are a lot of people who are worried about maybe that it would take away from the enthusiasm over there. But maybe, why would that be the wrong way to look at it, if we're thinking about incremental wins over the last 50 years, you said, to get to this point?

EARL BLUMENAUER: Yeah, I don't think it takes away. I think it builds the momentum. We get people on the record and people paying attention to the issue and mobilizing the vast array of people who support it. We have the MORE Act that is teed up and ready to go in both the House and I think it's near ready for introduction in the Senate. This is comprehensive. It's got restorative justice. All the things that Sherrod and others care about is a part of that package. And we get the momentum going.

This is-- we're on the verge of major initiatives dealing with interstate commerce, international trade. I mean, this is a national movement, and we have an opportunity--

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, for it to be a national movement too, though, I mean, we've talked about President Biden maybe not playing as active a role. We know his stance. Does that need to change for you to get this across the finish line, do you think?

EARL BLUMENAUER: No. It'll be legalized by Congress. Biden was part of the Obama administration that made a decision with the Cole Memo to allow state legal enterprises, as long as they operate within the boundaries of their state law, to be able to operate unfettered and gave some guidance, for example, to the Treasury. I mean, this is an opportunity, I think-- Mr. Biden is looking at some of his criminal justice activities in the past a little differently. But all we need for the federal government to do is stay out of the way.

ZACK GUZMAN: Right.

EARL BLUMENAUER: And I'm confident that he will do that.

ZACK GUZMAN: All right, representative Earl Blumenauer from Oregon, appreciate you taking the time to chat with us today alongside Jessica Smith with us here. Thanks again. Appreciate it.