{"id":3105,"date":"2021-12-02T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1hcmlqdWFuYW1vbWVudC5uZXQvdXNkYS1hbm5vdW5jZXMtaGVtcC1wb2xpY3ktY2hhbmdlcy10by1pbXByb3ZlLWluc3VyYW5jZS1jb3ZlcmFnZS1mb3ItcHJvZHVjZXJzL9IBAA"},"modified":"2021-12-02T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T08:00:00","slug":"usda-announces-hemp-policy-changes-to-improve-insurance-coverage-for-producers-marijuana-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=3105","title":{"rendered":"USDA Announces Hemp Policy Changes To Improve Insurance Coverage For Producers – Marijuana Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) is \u201cstill pretty irritated\u201d that marijuana banking reform was omitted from a defense bill last week<\/a>\u2014apparently at the behest of Democratic Senate leadership. But he said in an interview with Marijuana Moment that the congressional debate that subsequently ensued has advanced the cause nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act sponsor sees additional opportunities to pass the legislation as part of other large-scale bills if the Senate remains unwilling to adopt the standalone measure. He\u2019s had conversations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to that end.<\/p>\n

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Dave Joyce (R-OH) also told Marijuana Moment this week that they remain adamant about finding a path to passage in spite of the recent setback.<\/p>\n

Blumenauer, who also released a memo reflecting on the year\u2019s progress<\/a> on marijuana reform and outlining priorities for 2022 on Thursday, said during a briefing with reporters that he\u2019s \u201clearned to be patient\u201d when it comes to cannabis reform on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing the long game here, and we are in the best position we\u2019ve ever been with the Senate,\u201d Blumenauer said. \u201cI\u2019m confident, when we get these aligned, that we\u2019ll be able to move.\u201d<\/p>\n

The congressional debate over SAFE Banking this year has divided certain lawmakers and advocates. They share the ultimate goal of ending cannabis criminalization, but there\u2019s tension between the pragmatic desire to pursue bipartisan legislation that\u2019s more incremental but has the votes to pass now and the push for comprehensive reform that will take time to build support for.<\/p>\n

But despite the lawmakers\u2019 optimism, it doesn\u2019t necessarily take the sting out of the latest failed attempt to secure protections for banks that choose to work with state-legal cannabis businesses. The House had passed the reform as part of its version<\/a> of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), only to have it sidelined following bicameral negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy adding it to NDAA, we brought it up several notches in terms of the attention that the Senate had to take to SAFE Banking,\u201d Perlmutter told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

And while he remains frustrated over inaction on cannabis policy in the Senate, he said he\u2019s \u201csomewhat encouraged by the conversation that developed\u201d after he filed an amendment in the House Rules Committee to reinsert the legislation into the defense bill\u2014even if he ultimately decided not to force a vote and risk blowing up the overall NDAA deal that emerged out of bicameral negotiations.<\/p>\n

But he and other House lawmakers have signaled that the days of playing nice with the Senate and hoping that the other body will get around to taking up cannabis banking at its own pace are over.<\/p>\n

Blumenauer told Marijuana Moment on Thursday that \u201cit\u2019s very clear that this is the last time that we\u2019re going to basically avoid the showdown\u201d without blowing up larger bills, if it comes to that. Perlmutter made similar comments during the Rules meeting last week.<\/p>\n

It was no secret that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) posed an obstacle to enacting marijuana banking reform through NDAA, as he\u2019s repeatedly said that he believes comprehensive reform to end federal cannabis prohibition<\/a> and put in place a regulatory scheme should come first. Perlmutter said it really was the leader\u2019s final word that nailed the coffin on passing banking reform as part of the defense bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator Schumer really weighed in on this. It was one of the last things eliminated from the NDAA\u2014really at the Senate majority leader\u2019s insistence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The congressman is a cosponsor of a legalization bill\u2014the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which passed the House last year and cleared the Judiciary Committee this session<\/a> in September. He wants to see broad reform, too. But he\u2019s not so confident that the proposal still has the votes to be approved in the full House again, with a narrower Democratic majority in place now than the last time it was brought up.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s to say nothing of the Senate, where deep doubts remain about the prospects of getting 60 votes to advance federal descheduling.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, with SAFE Banking, we know clearly that has the votes in the House,\u201d Perlmutter said, noting the strong bipartisan support his bill has received as it\u2019s cleared the chamber five times in some form at this point.<\/p>\n

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Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,300 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n


Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe bill that Senator Schumer and Senator Booker have talked about\u2014they\u2019ve got some basic outline of what they\u2019d like to see that decriminalizes, has a criminal justice reform component in it, as well as a big taxation component in it,\u201d he said, referring to their draft Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA). \u201cI don\u2019t think they have the votes for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt isn\u2019t like this is a subject that\u2019s brand new. Where is it going?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with [broad legalization] personally,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to pass something that breaks the ice so that the Senate starts taking this up in, you know, bigger chunks if they\u2019re willing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said that there are other potential legislative vehicles that he could attempt to put the banking language in, and which he has discussed with Pelosi, but \u201cit\u2019s premature to talk about\u201d the specifics publicly.<\/p>\n

Blumenauer, for his part, insisted that the Senate could easily pass SAFE Banking if it was brought to the floor as standalone legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve given them a bill. It is clean. It has broad support in the Senate,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the simplest effort, but there will be vehicles going back and forth. And you will see there will be strong support to make sure that we don\u2019t come up short on this again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joyce, the Ohio Republican congressman who on Thursday sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris criticizing the administration\u2019s inaction<\/a> on cannabis reform and who recently filed a new marijuana expungements bill<\/a>, also recently spoke about the SAFE Banking Act and the thinking behind enacting that bipartisan policy change first.<\/p>\n

At an event hosted by the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), Joyce said that the MORE Act is \u201cDOA\u201d in the Senate, meaning dead on arrival. So \u201cwe\u2019ve got to find a more palatable path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur idea was to consider this\u2014if you wouldn\u2019t mind the term\u2014flooding the zone,\u201d the congressman said in response to a question from Marijuana Moment about combining his expungements legislation with banking to assuage the Senate\u2019s concerns. \u201cYou know, piecemeal things like the HOPE Act and [SAFE Banking Act] and STATES Act and putting those things out there in front of it instead of an all-inclusive one-size-fits-all\u201d bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we don\u2019t do big well. And so bite-sized pieces may be better,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cIf we can get the Senate to at least bite on some of these smaller ones, I think that we\u2019ll get into position where\u201d reform can advance.<\/p>\n

[embedded content]<\/span><\/p>\n

Perlmutter is quick to argue against people who say that SAFE Banking is all about the industry\u2014emphasizing that access to capital and \u201cnot getting shot\u201d due to the inherent dangers of marijuana businesses being forced to operate on a largely cash basis are equity issues in and of themselves. But he\u2019s also not against having the Senate take the legislation and add additional social justice components.<\/p>\n

Asked for his thoughts on attaching the marijuana expungements bill that Joyce recently filed with Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to the SAFE Banking Act as a way to assuage equity concerns expressed by Schumer and others, the congressman deferred to the Senate, saying he\u2019s fine with it \u201cif they have the votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The congressman also reacted to strong pushback from House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) against Schumer\u2019s intervention against the banking provisions of the NDAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really quite know what the hell his problem is,\u201d the chairman said of Schumer at last week\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad\u201d that the chairman was openly critical, Perlmutter told Marijuana Moment, \u201cbecause mine would have been even harsher.\u201d<\/p>\n

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GOP Lawmakers Blast Biden And Harris Over \u2018Continued Silence\u2019 On Marijuana And Urge Rescheduling<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) is \u201cstill pretty irritated\u201d that marijuana banking reform was omitted from a defense bill last week\u2014apparently at the behest of Democratic Senate leadership. But he said in an interview with Marijuana Moment that the congressional debate that subsequently ensued has advanced the cause nonetheless. Looking ahead, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act sponsor sees additional opportunities to pass the legislation as part of other large-scale bills if the Senate remains unwilling to adopt the standalone measure. He\u2019s had conversations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to that end. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Dave… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut-cbd-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}