Schumer Reiterates That Marijuana Legalization Must Pass Before Cannabis Banking Reform

With Democrats in control of the Senate this session, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) doesn’t plan to jeopardize a marijuana legalization bill he’s working on by advancing a more modest cannabis banking measure first.

In an interview with The Ringer that was released on Tuesday, the senator reiterated that he and his colleagues will be “introducing our bill shortly” to end cannabis prohibition—and he said banking reform legislation that’s been filed will have to wait because “we’re not going to bargain against ourselves.”

Schumer made a similar point in an interview with Marijuana Moment last month, arguing that passing a measure that protects banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses first could jeopardize the chances of advancing comprehensive reform. The thinking is that Republicans and moderate Democrats who are on the fence about a bolder policy change might be less inclined to vote for it if they have an opportunity to pass a more modest bill like the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act instead.

Senate Majority Leader @SenSchumer and @Bakari_Sellers discuss the possibility of legalizing marijuana pic.twitter.com/MWnyFsXiIX

— The Ringer (@ringer) May 11, 2021

The House has already approved the marijuana banking bill this session along largely bipartisan lines.

“We want a strong, comprehensive bill. We’ll introduce it,” the leader told podcast host Bakari Sellers, adding that “there’s huge support” for legalization, including in conservative states like South Dakota where voters approved a reform initiative last year.

“We’re going to get some support from the right on this as well we hope, and we’re going to push it,” Schumer said. “It’s going to take a little while. We’re going to need a mass campaign. But there’s real excitement in the country to do this.”

Schumer has been working with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) to draft a legalization bill over the course of the past few months. He’s been making the case for reform everywhere from the Senate floor to a cannabis rally in New York City.

Beyond ending prohibition, Schumer said the proposal he and his colleagues are working on will “ensure restorative justice, public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations,” similar to what New York lawmakers sought to accomplish in a legalization bill that the governor signed into law late last month.

The senator also said last month that the legalization bill they’re working on will be brought to the floor of his chamber “soon.”

He, Wyden and Booker formally started their reform efforts by holding a meeting earlier this year with representatives from a variety of advocacy groups to gain feedback on the best approach to the reform.

Schumer made a point in March to say that it will specifically seek to restrict the ability of large alcohol and tobacco companies to overtake the industry.

Instead, it will prioritize small businesses, particularly those owned by people from communities most impacted by prohibition, and focus on “justice, justice, justice—as well as freedom,” he said.

He also urged voters to reach out to their congressional representatives and tell them that “this is long overdue.”

On the House side, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said recently that he plans to reintroduced his legalization bill, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which cleared the chamber last year but did not advance in the Senate under GOP control.

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