SAFE Banking Act of 2023
Latest action · May 11, 2023 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 118-541.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedApr 26, 2023
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2023 or the SAFE Banking Act of 2023
This bill provides protections for federally regulated financial institutions that serve state-sanctioned marijuana businesses. Currently, many financial institutions do not provide services to state-sanctioned marijuana businesses due to the federal classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance.
Under the bill, a federal banking regulator may not penalize a depository institution for providing banking services to a state-sanctioned marijuana business. For example, regulators may not terminate or limit the deposit or share insurance of a depository institution solely because the institution provides financial services to a state-sanctioned marijuana business.
The bill also prohibits a federal banking regulator from requesting or ordering a depository institution to terminate a customer account unless (1) the regulator has determined that the depository institution is engaging in an unsafe or unsound practice or is violating a law or regulation, and (2) that determination is not based primarily on reputation risk.
Additionally, proceeds from a transaction involving activities of a state-sanctioned marijuana business are no longer considered proceeds from unlawful activity. (Financial institutions that handle proceeds from unlawful activity are subject to anti-money laundering laws. Violators of these laws are subject to fines and imprisonment.)
Furthermore, a financial institution, insurer, or federal agency may not be held liable or subject to asset forfeiture under federal law for providing a loan, mortgage, or other financial service to a state-sanctioned marijuana business.
Cosponsors 42
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 26, 2023 to Jul 26, 2023; 39 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Alex Padilla | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| I-ME | Angus S. King Jr. | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-NM | Ben Ray Luján | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| R-LA | Bill Cassidy | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-HI | Brian Schatz | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-CT | Christopher Murphy | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| R-WY | Cynthia M. Lummis | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| R-AK | Dan Sullivan | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-MI | Gary C. Peters | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-NV | Jacky Rosen | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-PA | John Fetterman | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-CO | John W. Hickenlooper | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-MT | Jon Tester | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| R-ND | Kevin Cramer | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| I-AZ | Kyrsten Sinema | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| R-AK | Lisa Murkowski | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-AZ | Mark Kelly | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-VA | Mark R. Warner | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-NM | Martin Heinrich | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-CO | Michael F. Bennet | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| R-KY | Rand Paul | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-NJ | Robert Menendez | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-OR | Ron Wyden | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| R-MT | Steve Daines | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-IL | Tammy Duckworth | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-MN | Tina Smith | Original | Apr 26, 2023 |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | May 31, 2023 | |
| R-ME | Susan M. Collins | Jul 13, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Jul 26, 2023 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee | Referred Apr 26, 2023Hearings May 11, 2023 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 11, 2023Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 118-541.
- Apr 26, 2023Introduced in Senate
- Apr 26, 2023Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S1404 | Charles E. Schumer D-NY | Apr 27, 2023 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 118-541 | EXAMINING CANNABIS BANKING CHALLENGES OF SMALL BUSINESSES AND WORKERS265 pages | Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee | May 11, 2023 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R45948 | The Controlled Substances Act (CSA): A Legal Overview for the 119th Congress | Report | Jan 22, 2025 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2860 | SAFER Banking Act | Related bill | Dec 6, 2023 |
| HR 2891 | SAFE Banking Act of 2023 | Identical bill | May 3, 2023 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to create protections for financial institutions that provide financial services to State-sanctioned marijuana businesses and service providers for such businesses, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- SAFE Banking Act of 2023
- Secure And Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2023
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Asia
- Bank accounts, deposits, capital
- Banking and financial institutions regulation
- Business records
- Congressional oversight
- Consumer affairs
- Credit and credit markets
- Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
- Department of the Treasury
- Drug trafficking and controlled substances
- Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
- Evidence and witnesses
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
- Federal Reserve System
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Financial services and investments
- Fraud offenses and financial crimes
- Government information and archives
- Government liability
- Government studies and investigations
- Insurance industry and regulation
- Iran
- Judicial procedure and administration
- Licensing and registrations
- Middle East
- Minority and disadvantaged businesses
- National Credit Union Administration
- North Korea
- Organized crime
- Syria
- Terrorism
- Women in business
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 26, 2023Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
