The Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition has issued a paper supporting Safe and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act amendments, with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) also noting the bill requires changes.
Within its Not A SAFE Bet white paper, the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition maintains the bill, which lawmakers indicated seeks to address challenges faced by small cannabis businesses that presently cannot access banking services or loans, is unlikely to result in equitable access to financial services in its current state.
The paper offers 10 recommended SAFE Banking Act amendments, including requiring financial institutions to demonstrate compliance with anti-discrimination laws such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act; protecting Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs); and elevating evidentiary requirements and limiting enforcement penalties for MDIs and CDFIs for servicing legitimate cannabis businesses.
“Not A SAFE Bet includes our analysis of the SAFE Banking Act, why it is unlikely to result in equitable access to cannabis banking, and recommendations to more equitably achieve cannabis banking reform,” Cat Packer, one of the paper’s co-authors, noted via a statement.
Via a press release coinciding with a Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition hosted the event, Booker commented on the SAFE Banking Act measure.
“For decades, largely Black and Brown communities have been disproportionately harmed by the prohibition of marijuana and are subsequently underrepresented in the emerging billion-dollar cannabis industry,” Booker said. “We all agree that the path to ensuring true equity within the marijuana industry starts with decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level. Before moving forward, legislation like SAFE Banking requires changes to ensure that the communities most harmed by our broken marijuana policies receive support and small cannabis businesses can have the same access to capital as large multi-state operators.”