Goldman introduces banking ease bill for weed businesses

August 15, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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NATIONWIDE — REP. DAN Goldman on Thursday joined Oregon colleague Earl Blumenauer in introducing the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act in Congress, which would ensure that legal cannabis businesses would be able to access financial services. Many are currently barred from using banks and credit cards for transactions, opening the door to potential tax evasion and increasing the risk of crime — as well as frustrating customers, who in many areas can use only cash at legal stores. Goldman’s bill would prevent federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for engaging with state-legal weed or related businesses, or from incentivizing them to downgrade or halt service. The bill also sets requirements for reporting suspicious activities and provides compliance guidance.

“It is impossible to adequately regulate this fledgling industry if cannabis businesses are forced to rely on all-cash transactions. This common-sense legislation is a step in the right direction that will bring the cannabis industry out of the shadows entirely,” Goldman wrote in a press statement.

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