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Major Banking Group Pushes Congress To Pass Bill Easing Marijuana Businesses’ Access To Financial Services

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A major banking organization is asking Congress to pass legislation to make marijuana businesses easier to access financial services.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act would “provide important legal and regulatory clarity” and “address an important challenge facing American businesses, our communities and the banks that serve them,” the American Bankers Association (ABA) wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

Bipartisan lawmakers in both houses of Congress It revamped the cannabis banking legislation last month—The latest development in the long-term push for reform, which has passed the House several times and advanced through a Senate committee, but has yet to become law.

“While almost all US states have legalized marijuana in some form, the uncertain legal landscape governing the revenue streams of these state-licensed businesses means that these businesses often operate in cash, outside of the regulated banking system,” the ABA’s new letter says. “This state legal revenue also goes to non-cannabis businesses and service providers, including accountants, skilled trades, landlords and law firms.

“The SAFE Banking Act would remove barriers to banking these funds, significantly reducing the amount of money moving through the state’s licensed cannabis businesses and service providers,” the group wrote. “This, in turn, would reduce the risk of these businesses being targeted by bad actors, thereby improving public safety in the communities in which they operate.”

Developments in the legal definition of hemp and federal reorganization of medical marijuana “It underscores the need for Congress to act” on the issue, the ABA said.

“As a result, the volume of marijuana-related products and state-licensed profits is likely to increase significantly, increasing public safety and illicit financial risks,” the letter states. “SAFE Banking would provide the necessary certainty by allowing these funds to enter—or enter—the regulated banking system.”

“Passing this legislation would reduce illicit financial risk and increase financial transparency of cannabis and hemp-derived income. Highly regulated banks and other financial institutions must comply with strict anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations, conduct due diligence on their customers, monitor transactions for suspicious activity, and register formal state and financial systems. Providing a significant level of transparency and accountability to financial institutions enabling better identification and reporting of illicit financial risk.”

The the letterAddressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), along with the chairs and members of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, the SAFE Banking Act calls for “immediate” passage through Congress.

The House passed versions of the SAFE Banking Act seven times, and The Senate Banking Committee passed a cannabis banking measure In 2023 but later he was not taken to the ground and died at the end of the 118th Congress.

—
It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25/month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracking and become a Patreon supporter to gain access
—

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who currently chairs the banking panel, said recently that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level while more states legalize it. It created a “quandary” for cannabis companies and banks looking to serve them.

Although Scott has opposed cannabis banking reform in the past, he said the bill would “solve the banking problem by making banking legal,” Scott said. “What you don’t want is to have these vault rooms where there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash sitting in one place. Everybody knows you can’t bank and so the criminal activity is much higher in these places.”

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Blizza Brands files NOI after CRA cancels excise licence and destroys inventory

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July 7, 2026

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Blizza Brands Inc., a federally licensed cannabis grower and processor based in London, Ontario, filed a notice of intent to file a proposal on June 23, 2026, after Canada Revenue Agency enforcement actions threatened its tax license, bank accounts and operating assets.

Blizza produces recreational cannabis sold through provincial wholesalers including the Ontario Cannabis Store, and markets products under the VOLO, OP, KWALL, Deep Value and KEFF brands. The company also does wholesale and processing of cannabis for other licensed growers. The facility at 371 Neptune Crescent has approximately 9,000 square feet of indoor cultivation and processing, and employed 8 full-time employees and 2 independent contractors at the time of filing.

Internal filings as of May 31 show assets with a book value of about $5.4 million, including approximately $2.9 million in property and equipment and $2 million in inventory. Cash was approximately $43,000, accounts receivable approximately $25,000, and an additional $120,000 was held as a CRA escrow deposit. Unsecured obligations total approximately $1.44 million, including approximately $599,196 owed to the CRA. The company has a $1.1 million mortgage on the London facility, bearing 13% interest and maturing on October 19, 2026.

Blizza attributes its financial difficulties to deficiencies in its financial and accounting functions beginning around 2024, which led to delays and inaccuracies in tax reporting, remittances and regulatory compliance. The company says these problems were compounded by taxes, compressed margins, intense competition and increased liquidity pressures in the cannabis sector, with excise taxes often being paid before customer receivables were collected.

The CRA ramped up its response significantly in the weeks leading up to the filing. On May 13, it renewed Blizza’s tax license for one month only, describing the renewal as permanent unless Blizza meets its filing and payment obligations. On June 15, the CRA announced that the license would not be renewed, and officers went to the facility the next day, destroying some cannabis inventory, plants and genetics. The CRA also registered three tax liens against the facility on June 16 and issued payment demands to OCS and other receivers, while seizure measures froze Blizza’s main operating accounts at the Bank of Montreal.

After negotiations, the CRA extended the restrictions from June 19 to June 30, which prohibited cultivation, processing, packaging, stamping and sale, and required Blizza to pay all current balances and arrears, file returns and provide an additional $16,000 in financial security. Blizza began NOI proceedings to preserve its Health Canada and excise licenses while it evaluates restructuring alternatives and develops a proposal for creditors. Ethos Advisory/Goldhar & Associates is acting as proposal trustee, with Miller Thomson as counsel to Blizza and Dickinson Wright as trustee.

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Illinois SB 3222 restricts intoxicating hemp sales, expands cannabis equity measures

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July 6, 2026

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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 3222 into law Thursday at Chicago’s SWAY Cannabis Dispensary, aiming for equity in the cannabis industry and increasing oversight of intoxicating hemp products sold outside the state’s regulated adult-use market.

The new law prohibits the sale of intoxicating hemp products, including Delta-8, THC-P and HHC, to minors. According to the governor’s office, these products have often appeared in packaging designed to appeal to children or distort their contents. From November, such products will require child-friendly packaging, and misleading marketing aimed at children will be banned. The current regulatory framework for cannabis will be extended to cover these intoxicating hemp products.

The legislation also expands patient access to medical cannabis by allowing all dispensaries in Illinois to register as medical cannabis dispensaries. Dispensaries will also be allowed to offer drive-up and curbside pickup, and the amount of marijuana they can legally possess at a time is doubled under the new rules.

For cannabis growers and infusers, the law provides hardship exemptions based on income, extending business start-up time and reducing costs. According to Pritzker, “Illinois has the most diverse and equitable cannabis industry in the country, which has created more than 16,000 new jobs and helped grow our economy.”

After legalizing recreational marijuana in 2020, Illinois cannabis rights holders have faced years of delays and bureaucratic hurdles, even as the state records billions of dollars in cannabis sales. The new legislation aims to streamline how state agencies share information, administer financial aid programs and regulate operations in the cannabis industry.










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Virginia Hemp Farmers And Businesses Worry About Changes Included In Newly Passed Marijuana Market Legislation

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July 6, 2026

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Lawmakers “want to change the law that was created to clearly favor Wall Street corporations over Virginia’s farmers and small businesses.”

Author: Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

A The legal cannabis market will go into effect next summer in Virginia Under the state’s latest budget, but Mannassas-based Barbara Biddle has already given her owner notice to close two of her hemp shops.

As a purveyor of hemp-infused products, his District Hemp Botanicals store sells creams, bath salts, infusions and gummies that contain CBD or THC, two chemical compounds found in cannabis and the hemp plant.

The upcoming federal hemp definition changes that come after Congress opened the door to wider hemp markets will go into effect in November of this year, while Virginia’s potential cannabis market will go into effect next July.

While CBD, short for cannabidiol, doesn’t get you high, THC, short for tetrahydrocannabinol, does.

Both ingredients have been noted for their health benefits, such as pain relief and stress or anxiety relief. THC-infused drinks have also emerged as an alternative to alcohol for those who don’t want to get completely sober. The concept has been part of Virginia’s years-long effort to establish a legal recreational cannabis market after allowing a medical prescription in 2018.

While the nation’s cannabis laws have slowly sprouted, the entrepreneurial hemp industry has taken root following Congress’s 2018 Farm Bill, which allowed hemp products with 0.3 percent THC. Late last year, however, Congress reversed course and by November many products will become illegal.

As of late June, some federal lawmakers have been seeking measures to support the hemp industry.

“There’s so much flux,” Biddle said.

With a new baby on the way, he noted that the one-in-two store scale isn’t entirely driven by Virginia’s legal limbo, but it certainly didn’t help, he said.

With Biddle’s Leesburg location closing soon, Caroline County farmer Graham Redfern is stressing about his crops during his planting season.

By fall, he said, many of his products will be illegal.

“Cannabis, which is hemp, will produce cannabinoids,” Redfern said this spring as he looks out over his fields on a rainy day when The Mercury visited. “It is impossible to create any industry in the world of industrial hemp without bringing the plant to maturity, which will produce cannabinoids, which will then become marijuana.”

Redfern and Biddle point out how they have already met strict restrictions on their industry within the state.

Tighter guardrails were put in place after a spike in calls to poison control centers from children eating what they thought were candy or people who were higher than intended. New potency thresholds and clearer labeling requirements have since been implemented after Senate Bill 903 of 2023 made state hemp laws stricter than federal ones.

This led to child safety improvements in packaging, third-party laboratory testing and product reformulation. It also contained a chemical composition where products had to contain 25 times the amount of CBD for every part of THC.

Sen. Lashrecse Aird, one of the sponsors of Virginia’s latest attempt to legalize cannabis, D-Henrico said in a statement, “Closing the 25-to-1 loophole will not prevent farmers from continuing to grow industrial hemp or continue to produce hemp products that meet Virginia’s 2 milligram THC limit.”

Instead, he said, it “faces a loophole where intoxicating products can be marketed and sold as cannabis outside of a strong regulatory framework that protects consumers.”

Biddle believes that classifying hemp businesses as “unregulated” is unfair to those who have obeyed state and federal laws for years.

“Now (lawmakers) changed the law they created to clearly favor Wall Street corporations over Virginia’s farmers and small businesses,” Redfern said.

As the medical marijuana industry has established itself in the state for years, with donations to lawmakers, he worries that small businesses like his and Biddle’s are being sidelined by corporations.

Redfern said he and others have contacted lawmakers and the governor about their concerns. He said they felt relieved until recently.

“We are left with zero road and we will not survive until July 2027 without a grace period,” Redfern said.

State lawmakers and the governor have been waging a state budget debate for months over data center taxes ahead of a July 1 deadline to implement them or face a government shutdown. After the legislature approved the agreements with the prime minister last week, the body met on Monday to approve its amendments.

This story was first published by the Virginia Mercury.

Brendan Cleak’s photo.

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