Pub. 9 2019-2020 Issue 1

2 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S A word from CBA… BY DON CHILDEARS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, COLORADO BANKERS ASSOCIATION B ankers in attendance at our 2019 CBA Annual Summit in May got some very heartening news from the chairman of our national counterpart, the American anker Association. Addressing the issue of continued conflict of state and federal laws regarding marijuana legalization – and its effects on banking, ABA Chairman Jeff Szyperski told the crowd, “We do feel that whether it’s this year or next year, something will get through on cannabis banking.” With cannabis now legal in 33 states covering 68 percent of the nation’s population, pressure to resolve the conflict of state and federal laws is ever-increasing. Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter - with help fromCBA - drafted and later introduced the SAFE Banking Act, which passed out of the House Financial Services Committee by an overwhelming vote of 45-15. The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 (SAFE Banking Act), would create a safe harbor for banks to accept deposits and make loans to marijuana related businesses in states where cannabis has been legalized. Perlmutter’s proposal is one of two being carried by Colorado Members of Congress; Sen. Cory Gardner is co-sponsoring the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, or STATES Act with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. That bill seeks to ensure that each state has the right to individually determine its own approach to cannabis legalization and related issues Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is a cosponsor of the legislation. Also, in May, the 51 state bankers’ associations urged the Senate Banking Committee to hold hearings on legislative solutions to the conundrum faced by banks in states where marijuana has been legalized. Senate Banking Committee member Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) met with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to discuss bringing the SAFE Banking Act up for consideration, the news outlet Marijuana Moment reported. “He didn’t say ‘hell no,’” Cramer told the outlet. “I thought he was quite open-minded to it.” Meanwhile, Paul said that “I think there’s a good chance they’re going to bring it up.” At CBA’s annual summit, James Ballentine, EVP of Congressional Relations and Political Affairs for the American Bankers Association told attendees, “We want (Crapo) to look at this as a banking issue, not a state issue.” In related news, the Congressional Budget Office released its cost estimate for the SAFE Banking Act, saying the bill would save the federal government $4 million over a ten- year period. As May turned to June, Rep. Perlmutter reported his SAFE Act had amassed more than 206 cosponsors in the U.S. House and urged its passage in the Senate, as Governors from states impacted by the conf lict between state and federal cannabis law expressed support for the Act and the STATES Act in a letter to Congress, stating that the lack of clarity “creates unnecessary burdens and risks.” CBA is hosting a second national conference focused on the ‘Cannabis conundrum,’ in an effort to help those banks understand the realities of choosing to serve the cannabis industry as well as to assist those banks that want to keep cannabis-related accounts out of their banks. You can find more information and register for the Aug. 26-27 event on our website at www.coloradobankers.org . I encourage you all to attend. n Are We Any Closer to a Solution to the “Cannabis Conundrum?”