SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Ben McAdams supported a bill Thursday that would provide a "safe harbor" and guidance to financial institutions that want to work with legal cannabis businesses.
The House Financial Services Committee advanced the bipartisan Safe Banking Act on a 45-14 vote, which the Utah Democrat said would help Utah’s effort to gain access to legal banking services for the state’s medical marijuana business.
“Thirty-four states, including Utah, have now legalized medical marijuana and yet commerce is carried out in cash-filled duffel bags because marijuana sales and distribution are still illegal under federal law,” McAdams said.
Most banks and credit unions don’t want to work with marijuana-related businesses and risk running afoul of regulators. As a result, working in the cannabis industry is largely a cash-only operation vulnerable to violent crime and fraud.
Until there's a "safe harbor" for state-approved businesses to use banks and credit unions for processing financial transactions, medical cannabis vendors will remain easy targets, McAdams said.
The Utah Legislature and Utah State Treasurer David Damschen have called on Congress to solve the problem. State lawmakers passed a resolution urging the federal government to remove barriers to banking services for Utah's medical marijuana program.