On Aug. 6, 2017, the National Conference of State Legislatures carved out 90 minutes during its summit in Boston for a panel on financial services for legal marijuana businesses, addressing efforts to move marijuana money from a cash-only model to a mainstream banking model.
The Financial Services spending bill adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 23, 2015, omitted language that would ban regulated sales of marijuana in Washington, D.C.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment with a vote of 16-14 aimed at protecting marijuana businesses and allowing access to banking services. Federal agencies would not be able to use federal funds to punish financial institutions for doing business with the marijuana industry.