House Makes Another Push For SAFE Banking Act

Congress is making another run at providing a safe harbor to the banking industry and companies that provide services to cannabis businesses. On September 21, 2021, the House voted to include the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2021 (SAFE Banking Act)¹ in the annual National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (NDAA).²  Two days later, the House passed the NDAA by a vote of 316 to 113. The NDAA is now before the Senate for consideration and is highly likely to be passed this year—in some form—in order to set annual defense policy priorities and authorize Defense agency spending for 2022.

Members of Congress have introduced the SAFE Banking Act or similar legislation in prior Congresses. Despite bipartisan support and broad support by the business community, these efforts have never resulted in the bill becoming law. Prior to passing it as part of the NDAA, the House also passed the SAFE Banking Act on three prior occasions.³ The Senate has yet