Today, Senators Jeff Merkely (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act in the U.S. Senate. This important legislation would provide state-legal cannabis businesses with the broad access to traditional banking and financial services afforded to all other legal businesses in the country — and we need your help to pass it!

NCIA has been building support for banking access for our industry in Congress since the first version of the SAFE Banking Act was introduced in 2013, when it was considered a fringe issue by most members of Congress. The latest version of the SAFE Banking Act was approved by the House three times in the last Congress and had garnered 35 cosponsors in the Senate by the end of 2020. That progress was only possible with the hard work our team in D.C. takes on every day, thanks to the support of our members.

Now, with a Democratic majority in the Senate, we have a unique opportunity to finally get the SAFE Banking Act to the President’s desk to become law! But success isn’t inevitable.

Please contact both of your U.S. Senators and ask that they sign on as co-sponsors of the SAFE Banking Act today.

You can find contact information and tips for calling your elected representatives on our website and use our Congressional Scorecard to find out their voting record on cannabis issues.

The legislation already has a long list of bipartisan cosponsors, including U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jon Tester (D-MT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rand Paul (R-KY), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

If your Senator(s) are listed above, please make a call to thank them for supporting this important legislation.

The House version of the SAFE Banking Act, H.R. 1996, was introduced last week. Thanks to the support of our members, NCIA will continue to lead the charge to advance this legislation in both chambers.

Thank you for taking action for the SAFE Banking Act and fair cannabis policies.