Marijuana advocates were given a massive setback after the Senate did not include a provision to remove federal restrictions on cannabis businesses from receiving banking services in the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill.
The provision, which would have been modeled after the House’s SAFE Banking Act, was excluded from the Senate’s spending bill, likely thanks to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has been a fierce opponent of the legislation.
The CEO of the U.S. Cannabis Council, a pro-marijuana group, said of the provision’s exclusion, “To say that we are disappointed is an understatement.”
CONNECTICUT TO DELETE OLD CRIMINAL RECORDS STARTING JAN. 1 WITH CANNABIS CASES
“In failing to enact the SAFE Banking Act, the Senate missed an opportunity to pass one of the rare pieces of legislation that has the support of both Republicans and Democrats, along with the majority of the American people. Not only did the Senate squander a chance to score a bipartisan victory this year, its inaction threatens public safety and undermines the progress states are making in mending the racial inequities of the war on drugs,” Khadijah Tribble said in a statement.
McConnell helped remove the provision from the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act earlier this month, celebrating its removal during a speech on the Senate floor.
“Just as Republicans insisted, just as…
