- A bipartisan coalition of state and territorial AGs sent a letter to Congress urging the passage of the SAFER Banking Act of 2025, which would create federal safe harbor protections for financial institutions that serve state-legal cannabis and hemp businesses.
- In the letter, the AGs emphasize that a majority of states and several territories have legalized cannabis in some form and that the legal cannabis industry is expected to generate $34 billion in retail sales by the end of 2025. They argue that integrating cannabis businesses into the regulated banking system is an urgent concern due to the industry’s significant and growing economic impact.
- The AGs contend that the current cash-based nature of the industry poses risks to public safety, impedes tax collection, and limits regulatory oversight. They argue that passage of the Act would reduce crime concerns, provide legal clarity to banks and financial institutions serving state-regulated cannabis businesses, and improve states’ ability to collect taxes from cannabis businesses and conduct meaningful oversight of those businesses’ revenues. The letter emphasizes that the Act does not promote cannabis legalization or facilitate cannabis sales in states that have chosen not to legalize it.
- On Cozen O’Connor’s State AG Pulse podcast episode Is SAFER Banking Finally Coming to the Cannabis Industry?, State AG attorneys Chris Allen and Emily Yu discuss bipartisan AG support for earlier iterations of the SAFER Banking Act.