On Tuesday, as the US senate returned from its August recess, the majority leader Chuck Schumer reiterated his commitment to advancing the highly anticipated Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.
As Business of Cannabis reported in early August, the annual summer break piled further pressure on lawmakers to make meaningful progress on the SAFE act in September, ahead of another potential government shutdown on October 01.
Some commentators have suggested that if a markup hearing, already delayed twice, does not take place before the shut down, the progress of the crucial cannabis bill will be significantly complicated.
However, in a floor speech on Tuesday, Schumer said that ‘making progress on cannabis’ was one of the legislative priorities for the coming weeks and months, offering some hope that the markup could be scheduled for the coming weeks, Marijuana Moment reported.
READ MORE: Government Shutdown Threatens to Derail SAFE Banking Momentum
He cautioned however, that making progress on cannabis reform and other priorities would ‘not be easy’ and would require ‘bipartisan cooperation’, and ‘a lot of work and compromise’ to move forward.
“Finding bipartisan compromise on issues like these is never easy, but that’s what it’ll take to get things done—and our efforts to do precisely that have already led to significant accomplishments under this majority. As we gavel back in, we will keep going to reward the trust the American people have placed in us.”
The industry is also hopeful that last week’s recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that cannabis should be downgraded to a Schedule III substance could help build some momentum for SAFE.
