Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) unveiled a plan on Monday aimed at expanding the number of banks and credit unions that work with the marijuana industry.
At a press conference announcing the new “Roadmap to Cannabis Banking & Financial Services,” Polis was joined by state regulators and Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), the chief sponsor of pending congressional legislation that would shield banks from being penalized solely because they accept state-legal cannabis business accounts.
“Because of these federal prohibitions on cannabis, businesses have been blocked from accessing conventional financial products that other legal businesses take for granted, and the lack of banking opportunities and access to other financial services in Colorado really poses both an economic threat and a public safety threat,” Polis said, noting that many cannabis companies operate on a largely cash-only basis, making them targets for burglaries and other crimes.
“Businesses in Colorado and across the country need certainty, and we have an obligation to do what we can with the tools that we have while we work on this federal fix,” he said.
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