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US House passes cannabis banking relief bill

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US House passes cannabis banking relief bill

The House of Representatives passed a measure 321-103 that would provide regulatory relief to financial services companies offering services to cannabis-related businesses. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, is a win for community banks and for a cannabis industry dominated by cash-only transactions.

The measure would prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses. In addition, it would bar regulators from terminating or limiting a bank's deposit insurance or share insurance solely because it provides financial services to a cannabis-related business. The bill would also extend protections to insurance companies, brokers and agents looking to insure the cannabis industry.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., and Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., introduced the bill in February and passed the bill out of the House Financial Services Committee with bipartisan support.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and chair of the Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that while the bill is a good step forward, more should be done to deschedule marijuana as a narcotic under federal rules.

"As I have said before, this bill is one important piece of what should be a comprehensive series of cannabis reform bills," Waters said.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and chair of the Senate Banking Committee, must now decide his next move as the bill makes its way to the Senate. Crapo recently told reporters that he either wants to take up the House bill, which has garnered support from a third of the upper chamber, or craft his own measure.