Senator Files Bill To Provide Marijuana Businesses With Federal Small Business Loans And Assistance That Other Industries Get - Marijuana Moment

A U.S. legislator has filed a caller measure that would let state-legal marijuana businesses to entree definite national Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and services that are disposable to companies successful immoderate different industry.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced the authorities connected Thursday, amid a week of important legislature enactment connected cannabis betterment issues.

The senator’s connection would forestall SBA from denying a bid of loans and different services—including catastrophe relief, microloans and method assistance—to businesses solely due to the fact that they are progressive successful state-legal cannabis markets.

“The unfair barriers to basal national enactment and resources person wounded our state’s legally-operating cannabis tiny businesses,”  Rosen told Marijuana Moment. “This authorities volition level the playing tract truthful that cannabis tiny businesses—including those owned by radical of color, women, and veterans—have entree to the aforesaid national resources and loans that different ineligible businesses are entitled to.”

The “Fair Access for Cannabis Small Businesses Act” contains similar provisions to a House measure filed past year by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), though that authorities besides contained broader connection to region marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The caller bill does’t person those national legalization provisions, but it would amend the Small Business Act to adhd connection to assorted sections stipulating that loans and services can’t beryllium denied “solely due to the fact that the borrower is simply a cannabis-related morganatic concern oregon work provider.”

Rosen’s authorities besides includes a mates further amendments to the Small Business Act that were not included successful Velázquez’s bill, specified arsenic ensuring that cannabis businesses tin entree “assistance from assets partners” and work providers similar tiny concern improvement centers, women’s concern centers and seasoned concern outreach centers.

.A conception connected SBA method assistance would besides beryllium uniquely amended nether Rosen’s measure to enactment the cannabis industry.

“For Black and brownish communities that person been ravaged by the warfare connected drugs for decades, determination is simply a airy astatine the extremity of the passageway arsenic the extremity of cannabis prohibition comes near,” U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) CEO Khadijah Tribble said successful a property merchandise connected Friday. “But without entree to superior done financing tools similar SBA loans, astir Black and brownish cannabis entrepreneurs won’t get the accidental to nett from an manufacture that was erstwhile utilized to stigmatize them—even successful states wherever the works has been legalized.”

Rosen, who serves connected the Senate Small Business Committee, has been a longstanding advocator pushing for betterment astatine the SBA to dainty the cannabis manufacture nary otherwise than different accepted markets.

Over the summer, Rosen asked colleagues connected the almighty Appropriations Committee to see provisions successful a spending measure to give tiny marijuana businesses just access to SBA indebtedness programs and entrepreneurial improvement resources, for example.

The legislator besides addressed the contented during a Senate Small Business Committee proceeding past year, receiving a committedness from then-nominee and existent SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman that she would look into expanding entree to companies successful the state-legal marijuana market.

Criticism implicit the deficiency of SBA entree for cannabis firms came to the fore amid the coronavirus pandemic. Rosen led a abstracted missive addressing the problem alongside 9 different senators past year.

SBA did corroborate successful 2020 that cannabis companies do not suffice for catastrophe alleviation loans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

There’s been speech astir the anticipation of facilitating marijuana manufacture SBA entree done a bundle of incremental cannabis reforms that’s actively being finalized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), but others person signaled that the last measure volition beryllium much narrowly tailored, centering connected bipartisan expungement and banking proposals.

“Senator Rosen’s landmark authorities would assistance beforehand equity and innovation successful the cannabis manufacture by leveling the playing tract for autarkic cannabis operators,” USCC’s Tribble said. “If paired with the SAFE Banking Act, The Fair Access for Cannabis Small Businesses Act would make a regulatory model that would guarantee a vibrant startup country and a diverseness of players.”

A broad legalization measure that Schumer, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) filed successful July also contains a proviso to create a 10-year aviator programme done the SBA “for intermediary lending” to enactment tiny marijuana businesses owned by radical who person been disproportionately impacted by the cause war.

Rosen’s measure was filed connected the aforesaid week that the afloat Senate approved House-passed bipartisan cannabis probe bill, marking the archetypal clip a standalone portion of marijuana betterment authorities has ever been sent to the president’s desk.

Also, connected Tuesday, congressional lawmakers held a hearing to sermon national marijuana legalization and authorities cannabis developments, proceeding grounds from a sheet of broadly pro-reform advocates.

The president of the subcommittee that held that proceeding besides said connected Tuesday that he volition soon beryllium introducing a bill aimed astatine protecting national workers from being denied information clearances implicit marijuana.

Read the text of Rosen’s measure connected marijuana manufacture entree to SBA services below: 

Congressman Previews Bill To Protect Federal Workers From Losing Security Clearances Due To Marijuana