SAFE Banking and the need for Bipartisanship
Some of the most important decisions affecting the cannabis industry aren’t made in offices in Los Angeles, in fields in Oregon, or in manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts. They’re made in Washington D.C. The pro-Cannabis community had exciting news recently that the SAFE Banking Act, which would among many other things allow banks to do business with cannabis companies, passed the House of Representatives 321-103.
There is much to be excited about. First and foremost, SAFE Banking is good policy and should be passed into law. We should also recognize the federal government is being a constructive partner in the cannabis conversation. However, the most exciting part for the industry’s long-term health is bipartisan support.
Up until this vote, cannabis political battles have been strictly partisan, which is a problem. Democrats generally favor adult use legalization and Republicans oppose it. This is not a healthy dynamic for the industry to continue to grow. To succeed over the long-term, businesses need predictable and amenable political environments. Over the last 30 years, the House has changed hands four times, and Senate three times. It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster in the Senate, and only two times in modern history has one party achieved that feat. Pragmatically, if you want to get anything passed, you need some type of bipartisan support.
Imagine if pro-Cannabis was strictly a Democratic issue? What would happen to the industry when the Republicans take control in a wave election? Do you simply accept greater political and regulatory challenges in exchange for taking the easier road of capitulating to the partisanship? Do you pack up your acorns and hibernate for a long winter?
While those in the pro-Cannabis community should be encouraged that 96 Republicans voted yes, they must not ignore that all 103 no-votes were all Republican, and included the most conservative in the House Republican Caucus.
The answer to this isn’t for the pro-Cannabis community to ask what’s wrong with the Republicans that voted no, or to demonize them, or to dismiss them as irrational. It’s for the pro-Cannabis community to look at themselves and think about what arguments they aren’t addressing, what coalitions needed to be brought into the conversation from the beginning, and what structural issues the industry should be addressing.
This was a very good vote, but there is always room for improvement.
