Bipartisan Cannabis Banking Bill (SAFE) Returns to Congress Ahead of DEA Hearing

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan coalition of senators and representatives reintroduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, restarting a long-running effort to let banks and credit unions serve Cannabis businesses without fear of federal punishment. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) is again leading the Senate version, with Rep. Dave Joyce (R), leading the companion bill in the House.

The reintroduction came just before a Drug Enforcement Administration hearing on Cannabis’s federal status, and sponsors say the measure remains necessary even after Cannabis’s reclassification from Schedule I to Schedule III earlier this year. That change altered the industry’s tax treatment but did little to change how banks assess risk. Cannabis remains a federally controlled substance, and most financial institutions still decline to handle related accounts.

The bill would stop federal regulators from penalizing banks for serving licensed Сannabis operators and the lawyers, landlords and other businesses that work with them. It would also protect banks from losing federal deposit insurance over Сannabis accounts and shield bank officers from criminal liability and asset forfeiture connected to that work. Hemp and CBD businesses would get similar protection, and existing Financial Crimes Enforcement Network guidance would stay in place, with room for regulators to update it later.

The bill has passed the House seven times [!] since it was first introduced, but it has never gotten a floor vote in the Senate. Its furthest point came in 2023, when it cleared a Senate Banking Committee hearing before stalling. At the time, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he lacked the votes needed to bring it to the floor. The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp said the politics around the bill look different now. “The policy environment now is dramatically different,” said Michael Bronstein, the group’s president, pointing to the Trump administration’s support for rescheduling as a sign that federal regulators increasingly accept Cannabis as a legitimate industry.

The American Bankers Association also welcomed the reintroduction, saying its members are eager to serve licensed Cannabis companies and the growing network of accountants, landlords and other service providers tied to the industry. The group’s leadership argued that outdated federal guidance has left banks with less clarity, not more, since Cannabis policy began shifting at the federal level.

For the Cannabis industry, this reintroduction reads more like a checkpoint. The SAFE Banking Act has cleared the House before and stalled in the Senate before, and the bill text alone doesn’t change that. What’s different now is the surrounding context. Rescheduling has already happened, the White House has voiced support for banking reform, and the Senate Banking Committee’s ranking member is now a cosponsor. None of that guarantees a vote. But for operators who have spent years budgeting around cash-heavy operations, every incremental shift in Washington’s posture toward Cannabis banking is worth tracking closely.