Schumer Plans One Last Cannabis Banking Push for the Year

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is planning one last-ditch effort to attach cannabis banking reforms to the omnibus funding package, Politico reports.

Democrats sent revisions for the banking reforms to their Republican counterparts on Thursday, addressing some of the concerns raised by Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA). But the cannabis banking language must still face its most likely hurdle in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has repeatedly derided Democrats’ efforts to attach the reforms to omnibus legislation.

Yet Schumer still intends to push the bill with other legislative leaders on Friday and over the weekend, which likely represents the last opportunity to see cannabis banking reforms approved this Congress, the report said. The proposal enjoys bipartisan support from Schumer and Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).

An effort to attach language from the SAFE Banking Act and two other pieces of cannabis legislation to the annual National Defense Authorization Act earlier this month was squashed by McConnell and other Republicans, and the Minority Leader said at the time he would work to keep similar language out of the omnibus funding bill, as well.