WASHINGTON — The House has passed legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, although it isn’t the bill credit unions have been backing for several years and would bring the SBA into the direct lending business for cannabis-related businesses.
Separately, a credit union CEO appeared at an event with Vice President Harris.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which passed 220-204, is unlikely to secure 60 votes to pass the Senate, despite the backing of the majority leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), noted numerous analysts.
“But supporters of marijuana decriminalization — even some Republicans who voted against the Democratic legislation — said…the vote was a necessary step toward building consensus on something that can become law,” reported the New York Times.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which was supported by all Democrats and a few Republicans, would remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances, impose an 8% tax on cannabis products, allow some convictions on cannabis charges to be expunged and press for sentencing reviews at the federal and state levels.
It would also make Small Business Administration loans and services available to cannabis businesses while setting standards for them.
Other Republicans have signed on to a similar bill from Rep. Nancy Mace, which has also garnered some Democratic support.
“I’m respecting the process that the Democrats want to go through,” said Mace, who has made marijuana decriminalization a central issue but voted against the Democratic bill, according to the Times. “You can save the federal government $600 million over five years, and it saves lives. It’s an important issue. People care about it; the vast majority of Americans care about it.”
‘Time for Comprehensive Reform’
By lowering law enforcement and incarceration costs and imposing new taxation, the bill would save the government hundreds of millions of dollars. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the act would reduce the federal deficit by nearly $3 billion over the next decade, according to the Times.
“The time has come for comprehensive reform of federal cannabis laws,” said Schumer. “Of course, we will need Republicans to pass a legalization bill in the Senate, and we will be working hard to try and get them.”
Mace’s bill has a lower tax rate to discourage an illicit cannabis trade and other measures to discourage youth consumption. In addition, Democratic senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon have written a marijuana decriminalization measure Schumer.
Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia have relaxed marijuana laws in some way. Thirty-seven states have legalized cannabis for medical use, and 15 have granted adults legal access for purely recreational purposes.
But federal law continues to treat cannabis as a federally controlled substance on par with heroin, leading many financial institutions to steer clear of the business.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the new pot bill’s provision to expunge marijuana convictions and lower sentences would reduce time served by current and future inmates by 37,000 years.
Lack of GOP Support
But lack of Republican support in the Senate makes it unlikely any cannabis-related bill can get through Congress.
“The left will not let the Democrats do what needs to be done with the inflation problem, the energy problem, the illegal immigration problem on the southern border,” said Rep. Jim Jordan R-OH), the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “So what do they do? They legalize drugs. Wow.”
CU CEO Appears with Vice President Harris
Meanwhile, Bill Bynum, CEO of Hope Credit Union and HOPE Enterprise Corp. joined Vice President Kamala Harris at an event in Greenville, Miss., to provide remarks on access to capital for small businesses in the Deep South,
The event was designed to highlight the Biden administration's in small businesses and communities, including about $27 billion in support for support small businesses, homeowners and communities of color through the Emergency Capital Investment Program, the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program and the CDFI Fund.
Bynum and HOPE Enterprise and the credit union have been leaders in making capital more accessible in the Mississippi Delta region.
HOPE has generated over $3.6 billion in financing and related services for the unbanked and underbanked; homeowners, entrepreneurs and small business owners, nonprofit organizations, health care providers, and other community and economic development purposes, the organizations reported.
The projects have benefited more than two-million individuals throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.