Sponsors (8)
The bill substantially expands banking, payment, and mortgage access for state‑sanctioned cannabis and hemp markets and increases regulatory clarity, at the cost of higher compliance burdens, privacy/surveillance trade‑offs, persistent federal–state legal tensions, and some increased taxpayer or financial‑stability exposure.
State‑sanctioned marijuana and hemp businesses, their owners, employees, and service providers gain much greater practical access to banking, payment processing, and deposit services (safe harbors, explicit permissions, and protections that reduce risk of account closures and prosecution).
Borrowers paid by state‑licensed cannabis businesses can qualify for federally backed mortgages (FHA/VA/USDA/Fannie/Freddie), expanding access to mainstream home financing for those workers and owners.
Depository customers and small businesses receive stronger procedural protections and transparency when banks close or restrict accounts for vague 'reputational risk' reasons (written determinations, customer notice requirements, and annual reporting to Congress).
Banks, insurers, regulators, and Treasury/agency staff will face substantial new compliance, reporting, and implementation costs that may be passed on to customers or borne by taxpayers.
Federal–state legal conflicts remain unresolved: businesses and lenders face ongoing legal uncertainty and uneven enforcement because federal drug laws still classify marijuana as illegal, which could trigger litigation or operational risk.
Expanded SAR/SSTR reporting, legacy‑deposit documentation, and required guidance increase privacy and surveillance risks for business owners and customers (especially on tribal lands) and raise civil‑liberty concerns.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Protects banks and lenders that serve state‑legal marijuana and hemp businesses from supervisory actions and certain federal liability, updates SAR/exam guidance, mandates studies, and allows marijuana income for federally backed mortgages.
Official title: Create protections for financial institutions that provide financial services to State-sanctioned marijuana businesses and service providers for such businesses, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 24, 2026 by Jeff Merkley · Last progress June 24, 2026
Protects depository institutions and other financial actors that provide services to state‑sanctioned marijuana businesses and hemp businesses by limiting federal regulators' ability to force account closures or take adverse supervisory actions solely for doing business with those customers. Creates statutory safe harbors from certain criminal and civil liability and from forfeiture for proceeds and collateral tied to compliant state‑legal marijuana activity, requires updated SAR and examination guidance, mandates studies and reports on access to banking for marijuana/hemp businesses and minority/veteran/women‑owned firms, and treats income from state‑legal marijuana businesses as eligible income for federally backed mortgage underwriting.