LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined together with a bipartisan group of 21 other AG’s to urge congress in passing marijuana banking legislation.
Under current law, financial institutions are forbidden from providing banking services to marijuana businesses. Because of this, marijuana businesses are forced to operate as cash-only, which creates safety threats.
Nessel and the other AG’s have introduced legislation that would allow these businesses to access the Federal banking system.
The “STATES” (Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States) Act would help reduce the risk of violent crime towards these businesses.
“All legal and legitimate businesses should have a safe place to deposit their revenue and not have to rely on under-the-floor safes to store their legally earned money,” Nessel said in a press release. “This is not just a states’ rights issue, this is an issue of safety. The expansion of Michigan’s market to include legal sales of recreational marijuana this year compels us to join this effort to ensure we protect Michigan businesses from becoming unnecessary targets of bad actors.”
The press release notes that the legislation already has bipartisan support with 62 cosponsors in the U.S. House and 9 cosponsors in the U.S. Senate.
The marijuana industry is expected to create 40,000 new jobs in Michigan once the regulations have been fully established.
