FAIRBANKS — Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and a bipartisan group of senators are pushing legislation that would allow legal marijuana businesses to use banks to store profits.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Thursday that Murkowski and Democrat Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon have introduced a measure within the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, a larger bill regarding federal banking restrictions that Merkley sponsored last year.
The measure would keep federal officials from being able to punish banks simply “because the depository institution provides or has provided financial services to a cannabis-related legitimate business.”
Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana growers, processors and sellers because marijuana is still a controlled substance under federal law.
