The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) is advocating the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act be included in the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The organization is urging credit unions to request local lawmakers support the action. The House of Representatives included the SAFE Banking Act as an amendment to their version of the NDAA in July.
According to the NAFCU, the House and Senate will need to negotiate to resolve differences for the final NDAA. The SAFE Banking Act could pass through the negotiation process.
According to the NAFCU, the SAFE Banking Act would enable Congress to provide greater clarity and legal certainty at the federal level for credit unions choosing to provide financial services to state-authorized marijuana-related businesses (MRBs) and ancillary businesses serving those businesses in states where such activity is legal.
In its Marijuana Banking Issue Brief, the NAFCU indicated the organization is not taking, and will not take, a position on the broader question of legalization or decriminalization of marijuana at the state or federal levels but acknowledges it does support legislative steps to provide clarity and legal certainty to the question of whether financial institutions may safely allow state-authorized MRBs to have access to their services.
The NAFCU conveyed it supports Congress continuing to examine all possible solutions regarding marijuana banking, including the exploration of several bills from the last few Congresses, which include the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019 (H.R.3884); the Responsibly Addressing the Marijuana Policy Gap Act of 2019 (S.421); and the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act (S.1028).