Key takeaways
16 governors, led by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, sent congressional leaders a letter on Nov. 9, 2026 asking them to pass the SAFE Banking Act.
They want it done in the lame-duck session. Bills that don’t pass by the end of this Congress have to be reintroduced next year.
The current bills, S. 4942 and H.R. 9471, were introduced in June and have not had a committee hearing.
The bill would protect banks and credit unions that serve state-legal cannabis businesses. Nothing changes for operators yet.
Most cannabis businesses still run on cash, and that brings real risks for staff, from robberies to carrying deposits. Now 16 governors are asking Congress to fix cannabis banking before the current session ends.
The letter, dated Nov. 9, 2026 and led by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who chairs the National Governors Association, asks House and Senate leaders to pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act during the lame-duck session, according to Cannabis Business Times and Marijuana Moment, which published the full letter.
Which governors signed the cannabis banking letter
All 16 signers are Democrats. Besides Moore, they are Jared Polis (Colorado), Ned Lamont (Connecticut), Matt Meyer (Delaware), JB Pritzker (Illinois), Andy Beshear (Kentucky), Janet Mills (Maine), Maura Healey (Massachusetts), Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), Tim Walz (Minnesota), Michelle Lujan Grisham (New Mexico), Kathy Hochul (New York), Tina Kotek (Oregon), Abigail Spanberger (Virginia), Bob Ferguson (Washington) and Tony Evers (Wisconsin).
Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Wisconsin will have new governors in 2027, Cannabis Business Times notes, but their current governors still signed.
What the governors are arguing
The letter makes a public-safety and oversight case. Running mostly on cash, the governors write, keeps businesses from loans, payroll systems and card processing, and makes them targets for robbery. They also say states have trouble depositing cannabis tax payments and processing license fees.
They argue banking access would help regulators too. Banks must monitor customers and file reports with the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the governors say those reports would give states more visibility into cannabis money. The letter also says the bill respects each state’s choice to legalize or not.
"Legal cannabis businesses in states like Maryland still run mostly on cash. That makes them targets for robbery and puts workers, customers, and the surrounding community at risk."
Where the SAFE Banking Act stands in Congress
Bill | Sponsor | Introduced | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) | June 24, 2026 | Referred to the Senate Banking Committee | |
Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio) | June 25, 2026 | Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, July 17, 2026 |
The bills would generally bar federal banking regulators from penalizing a bank or credit union just for serving a cannabis business that follows state law, according to the Marijuana Herald. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Steve Daines are original cosponsors of the Senate version.
The track record is the hard part. The House passed versions of the bill seven times between 2019 and 2022, Cannabis Business Times reports, and a Senate committee approved a version once, in 2023, but none became law. Neither 2026 bill has had a committee hearing, and if they don’t pass by year’s end, they must be reintroduced in the new Congress.
What this means for operators
Plan as if nothing changes this year. A letter isn’t a law, and lame-duck calendars are crowded.
Keep your cash-handling, security and deposit procedures tight, since those risks are exactly what the governors describe.
Get your financial records in shape. If banking opens up, banks will still need to know their customers and monitor transactions, so clean books will make onboarding easier.
Weigh in if you want to: you can find your members of Congress and tell them how operating in cash affects your business.
What this means for cannabis workers
The governors’ letter names workers directly: it says employees who transport cash, businesses that store large amounts on site, and customers carrying cash all face higher safety risks. If your job involves handling cash or deposits, follow your employer’s security procedures and ask about them if you haven’t been trained.
Banking access would also affect how you get paid and how your employer runs payroll. For now, nothing changes.
The bigger picture
The push builds on earlier ones. A bipartisan group of 32 state and territory attorneys general urged Congress to pass the bill last year, and the American Bankers Association backed banking legislation in July, Marijuana Moment reports. The site also cites a September report from the Government Accountability Office that found banks are still reluctant to serve cannabis businesses.
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Sources
This article is general information, not legal or financial advice.
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