WASHINGTON—Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is the new chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said he is willing to consider moving on legislation that would allow the cannabis industry access to the banking system if the measure is coupled with sentencing reform for drug offenses.
Brown told Cleveland.com his priority in the new post is to help the country cope with the coronavirus pandemic, followed by providing emergency assistance for renters facing eviction and homeowners facing foreclosure, and support for public transit.
Brown said the committee’s first hearing will be about how the pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color.
As CUToday.info previously reported, in 2019 the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation that would allow credit unions and banks to process financial transactions for legal, state-licensed cannabis businesses without fear of federal sanctions because marijuana is still considered illegal under federal law.
That bill stalled in the Senate due to opposition from the former chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID).
Discussions Held
Brown said he discussed the Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act last week with a group of Colorado Congress members.
“I am willing to look at moving on the SAFE Act, but with it needs to come sentencing reform,” Brown told reporters, Cleveland.com reported. “I don’t think we move on legalization the way that Colorado and some other states want us to, unless we really look more seriously at who’s in prison for how long for those kinds of offenses and we don’t do one without the other.”
Brown noted the sentencing reform he desires would have to go through the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“We’re not going to move without working with the Judiciary Committee on that at the same time,” said Brown.