Pennsylvania lawmakers moving forward with their own cannabis banking bill |

In an effort to give cannabis companies access to financial institutions that are bogged down in Congress, some Pennsylvania lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands.

According to local television station WHTM, a state Senate committee on Wednesday passed bipartisan legislation to “give state-legal cannabis greater access to banking and insurance services.” This would help with the overwhelming problem of lack of access to safe banking resources when it comes to legal cannabis.

According to Sender, the bill “allows, but does not require, financial institutions to provide services to federally legal cannabis businesses,” and allows “Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis industry the ability to deduct ordinary business expenses when filing state taxes.”

According to Local 21 News, the “law provides safeguards to allow banks and insurers to do business with the medical cannabis industry without fear of penalties.”

The bill was written by two state senators: Republican John DiSanto and Democrat Sharif Street. It was then approved by the State Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.

“Access to financial and insurance services is essential to the operation of any business, and it is against the public interest to force a multi-billion-dollar industry to deal with piles of cash,” DiSanto said, as quoted by WHTM . “Keeping this cash safe in Pennsylvania provides security for businesses, is a huge opportunity to boost our economy, and should ultimately lower costs for medicinal cannabis users.”

“This is a big step in the right direction that makes it easier for banks to do something because right now most banks are afraid to do anything,” Street said, as quoted by Local 21 News. “The law is set up so that we treat these people as if they were involved in the illegal drug trade.”

The bill represents an attempt to bring about state-level reform in an area of ​​cannabis policy where Congress has fallen short. This could mean better access to basic financial resources for local businesses.

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives again passed the SAFE Banking Act, which would allow banks to provide financial services to cannabis companies. It was the sixth time the House of Representatives passed the bill, first introduced in 2013 by Colorado Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter.

“Cannabis-related businesses – large and small – and their employees desperately need access to the banking system and access to capital to operate efficiently, safely and compete in the growing global cannabis market,” Perlmutter said in a statement at the time.

Street said he is confident the bill will pass in both the State House and Senate. And there is cautious optimism among supporters that the SAFE Banking Act will finally leave both houses of the Democrat-controlled Congress this year.

Getting something done is becoming more and more urgent. In Washington state, a series of armed raids on cannabis dispensaries has underscored the dangers of having so much cash on hand.

The Seattle Times reported earlier this month that “there have been approximately 67 armed robberies so far in 2022,” up from 34 in 2021 and 27 in 2020.

This worrying trend has Washington officials taking action when it comes to access to banks.

A Republican state senator in Washington introduced a bill last month that would add an additional year in prison to anyone convicted of robbing a cannabis store.

And earlier this month, the state’s Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti traveled to Washington, DC to urge passage of the SAFE Banking Act.

“They rob the places where the cash is,” Pellicciotti said, as quoted by local TV station KING5. “These robberies are tragic. But these robberies are also preventable.”