The Senate Finance Committee’s new chair, Senator Sherrod Brown, says he will approve a reform protecting financing institutions that fund federally legal cannabis businesses if it comes with a sentencing bill legislation for drug-related offences.
Senator Brown recently grabbed the high seat in his caucus after Democrats took the power over the senate. He told news reporters that he will approve the bipartisan SAFE, Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act only if it’s accentuated by a sentencing policy change.
According to comments first reported on Friday, Brown added that if he ascends the SAFE Financing Act, it “be done in tandem with the Senate Judiciary Commission which will be tasked with creating sentencing reform regulations.”
His utterances seem to underscore a debate that was held in 2020 over a House leadership’s move to cast votes on the SAFE Banking Act before tackling the wide policy changes. Certain lawmakers and activists called for the postponement of the banking reform until in-depth authorization legislation was first achieved.
Brown isn’t a fan of marijuana matters. He said in 2020 that he doesn’t think marijuana reforms are a priority. He has constantly refused to adopt a broader reform or cosponsor reform legislation pieces. He has also made dismissive utterances about the matter.
In 2018, he said that people will see what unravels in those states that have authorized marijuana adding that people don’t know yet if less addiction or drug dependency will occur.
However, advocates believe that ascending marijuana banking reform would be a positive change. Although the SAFE Banking Act was included in two phases of COVID-19 reprieve legislation that was introduced last year by House Democrats, it failed to accrue Senate votes.
The SAFE Banking Act’s sponsor, Representative Ed Perlmutter, said during early February that he’ll try again to include language from his reform to the coming coronavirus relief package.
