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SAFE Banking Act of 2019

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 11, 2019

Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 or the SAFE Banking Act of 2019

This bill generally prohibits a federal banking regulator from penalizing a depository institution for providing banking services to a legitimate marijuana-related business. Specifically, the bill prohibits a federal banking regulator from (1) terminating or limiting the deposit insurance or share insurance of a depository institution solely because the institution provides financial services to a legitimate marijuana-related business; (2) prohibiting or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from offering financial services to such a business; (3) recommending, incentivizing, or encouraging a depository institution not to offer financial services to an account holder solely because the account holder is affiliated with such a business; (4) taking any adverse or corrective supervisory action on a loan made to a person solely because the person either owns such a business or owns real estate or equipment leased or sold to such a business; or (5) penalizing a depository institution for engaging in a financial service for such a business.

As specified by the bill, a depository institution or a Federal Reserve bank shall not, under federal law, be liable or subject to forfeiture for providing a loan or other financial services to a legitimate marijuana-related business.

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The Government Accountability Office must report on (1) access to financial services for minority-owned and women-owned marijuana-related businesses; and (2) the effectiveness of suspicious-transaction reports at finding engagement with organized criminal activity in jurisdictions that allow the cultivation, sale, or distribution of marijuana.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
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Who introduced it

Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] · D–OR

Committees

  • Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
34 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

  2. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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