Congress Takes Steps In Supporting State-Legal Cannabis Companies In The Newest HEROES Act Package
To say COVID-19 has changed the world is an understatement. It has impacted everyone, everywhere. No business or industry is immune, including cannabis. Congress has been working overtime to enact various financial relief packages yet for the most part, they’ve excluded even state-legal cannabis companies since marijuana remains illegal under federal law. The tides do seem to be shifting.
Advocates in government along with criminal justice and civil rights groups have urged for stimulus funding of these companies. Without such support, these businesses may be left to shut their doors which means a further loss of jobs specifically within the sector. A coalition of cannabis industry trade organizations also urged congress to amend and include these businesses within the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Fortunately legislators were listening and just last week, the new $3 trillion coronavirus relief package known in short as the HEROES Act, includes protections for banks that serve cannabis companies and the industry. While the bill does not alter SBA eligibility for relief funds, as part of the HEROES Act, the SAFE Banking Act is a first step towards relief.
One industry trade group, the National Association of Cannabis Businesses (NACB), has taken a step further and made a push to a number of governors in the northeast, including PA and NJ, to pass legislation and fully legalize cannabis. Why now? For many, this is already considered a looming next step but with the steep economic downturn and lost earnings during the pandemic, legalizing marijuana could generate much needed tax revenue as the states begin to reopen.
Said NACB CEO, Gina Kranwinkel, “In states where cannabis has already been legalized, the industry is boosting small business and minority entrepreneurship, creating jobs and generating millions of dollars in state tax revenue.”(1)
We at Neff & Sedacca, P.C. continue to monitor the on-going changes in cannabis law and have a section of our web site here with some of the key rapidly changing areas with respect to criminal law. If you have questions regarding a related or general criminal legal matters, you should seek experienced legal counsel. To schedule a confidential consultation with the attorneys at Neff & Sedacca, P.C., contact the firm by phone at 215-563-9800 or email info@neffsedacca.com.
<span=”font-size: 0.7em”>(1) Source: https://www.law360.com/articles/1273709/pot-group-urges-legalization-to-hike-tax-revenue-amid-virus?copied=1