Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) passed the SAFER Banking Act through the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee for the first time in U.S. Senate history. For years, Cortez Masto has championed this legislation to finally allow cannabis businesses full access to critical banking and financial services. Nevada has the second highest sales per capita of legal cannabis in the country, creating good-paying jobs across the state.
“There are so many Nevada business owners who have opened legal cannabis businesses and created jobs across our state, and they should be able to access the same banking services as all other businesses,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Today’s vote is a historic step forward that will help keep Nevadans safe, and I’ll continue working with my colleagues to get this bipartisan legislation signed into law as soon as possible.”
Senator Cortez Masto first introduced this legislation with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Senate colleagues in 2017 and she has repeatedly pushed for action on the bill. In May, she highlighted one Nevada business owner who said that the lack of access to traditional banking is so burdensome and dangerous that she often fears for her safety and that of her employees.
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