16 Governors Urge Congress to Pass SAFE Banking Act

Photo by Cova Software via Unsplash.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore put the problem plainly: legal cannabis businesses in states like his still run mostly on cash. Dispensary owners haul bags of bills to tax offices, pay vendors in person, and hire armed couriers because mainstream banks fear federal exposure.

That is the backdrop for a letter 16 governors sent to congressional leaders on Monday, Nov. 10, 2026, asking them to pass the SAFE Banking Act. It arrives after the federal government moved on rescheduling, yet banking access for the industry has not changed, and a new Congress takes over next year.

Here is what the letter argues, who put their names on it, where the House and Senate bills actually stand, and why a Schedule III order does not fix the cash problem.

What the Governors' Letter Actually Asks For

The coalition addressed its letter to House and Senate leaders and urged passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, better known as the SAFE Banking Act. The core request is narrow. Let state-sanctioned cannabis businesses reach core banking services and move cash-heavy operations into regulated financial institutions.

The governors pitch the bill as a pragmatic fix. In their telling, it respects state sovereignty, since it leaves each state's legalization choices alone, while addressing public safety and governance problems that come with businesses handling large amounts of physical currency. Cash is hard to audit, easy to steal, and a standing target for robbery.

The letter also points to the Trump administration's move to federally reschedule marijuana. The argument is that Washington has already signaled a shift in how it treats the plant, so the financial system should be allowed to catch up.

Cannabis Business Times summed up the ask in a phrase that fits: let cannabis businesses bank like everyone else. That is the whole pitch, stripped of legislative language. Operators want checking accounts, payroll services, and loans without being treated as a compliance hazard.

Nothing in the letter changes law by itself, of course. It is pressure, aimed at the leaders who decide which bills reach a vote.

Who Signed On and Why Moore Is Out Front

Moore is the face of the effort. He posted on X that he is leading a group of governors in calling on Congress to advance the SAFE Banking Act, and his cash comment supplies the public-safety logic that runs through the letter.

From the excerpts available, the signers include Colorado's Jared Polis, Illinois' JB Pritzker and New York's Kathy Hochul, alongside Moore. Those are heavyweight names from mature adult-use markets. The complete roster of 16 should be checked against the letter itself, which Moore's office or Marijuana Moment's embedded copy can confirm, so I am not naming anyone beyond those four.

Cannabis Business Times describes the signers as 16 Democratic governors. That characterization is worth confirming against the final list before anyone repeats it as settled. If it holds, it shapes how the letter plays in Congress, since the bill has had Republican sponsors in both chambers.

If the verified list spans both adult-use states and medical-focused ones, that range would strengthen the argument that this is a governance issue and not a single-market complaint. Again, that depends on the names.

The letter is not the first show of state-level muscle. Last year, 32 state and territory attorneys general sent their own letter urging passage. The American Bankers Association has also pressed Congress on the bill, which matters because banks are the ones who would have to take on the accounts.

Where the SAFE Banking Bills Stand in Congress

Two bills are in play. In the Senate, S. 4942, the SAFE Banking Act of 2026, was introduced June 24, 2026, with Sens. Merkley, Murkowski, Warren and Daines as sponsors. A bipartisan lineup like that is the bill's best selling point.

In the House, H.R. 9471 followed a day later, introduced June 25, 2026 by a Republican from Ohio's 14th District. Confirm the sponsor's name on congress.gov. Its latest action, on July 17, 2026, was referral to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. That is early-stage movement, not momentum.

The texts differ in useful ways. The House bill carries a title on how state-sanctioned marijuana business income counts toward qualifying for federally backed single-family mortgages. The Senate text includes a section, Sec. 14, extending coverage to hemp-related legitimate businesses and service providers.

History argues for caution. The Senate Banking Committee advanced the SAFER Banking version 14-9 on Sept. 27, 2023, and it never reached a floor vote. A bank explainer from Herring Bank says both current bills remain in committee as of October 2026, though that is a bank's summary rather than an official record.

Timing is the pressure point. Democrats are set to take control of Congress next year, and if the bill is not enacted by the end of the year it has to be reintroduced. Cannabis Business Times noted that it was nowhere to be seen for most of this Congress.

Why Rescheduling Doesn't Solve the Banking Problem

Photo by Elsa Olofsson via Unsplash.

It is tempting to read federal rescheduling as the end of the banking story. It is not, and the details show why.

On April 24, 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued an order that immediately placed FDA-approved marijuana products, and marijuana regulated under a state medical license, in Schedule III. The same order set an expedited hearing on moving all marijuana to Schedule III, starting June 29, 2026. It followed Trump's December 2025 Executive Order 14370, which told the federal government to finish the rulemaking most expeditiously.

The Washington Post reported that the order does not decriminalize recreational marijuana. Law-firm analysis says qualifying medical licensees gain Schedule III status, relief from Section 280E deduction disallowance going forward, and an expedited DEA registration path.

Then came a snag. In late September 2026, DEA chief administrative law judge Derek C. Julius paused the proceedings on rescheduling all marijuana, so the broader move is not final. Opponents of the proposed rule also cite a GAO finding that DEA lacks policies spelling out roles and procedures for drug scheduling.

My read, and it is analysis rather than a sourced claim: operators outside the medical carve-out remain Schedule I federally, so the reason banks hesitate has not gone away. A statute that gives banks clear protection would. Federal and state rules are shifting, so check current law where you operate.

The letter's leverage is timing. A changing Congress and a stalled rescheduling process make this the moment when banking access either gets a legislative vehicle or starts over from scratch in the next Congress, with new committee assignments and the same old hurdles.

Two things are worth watching. One is whether the SAFE Banking language gets attached to a year-end package, the most plausible route for a bill that has never won a floor vote. The other is whether the full list of 16 signers, once verified, widens beyond Democrats in later pushes. Bipartisan governors would be harder for leadership to ignore.

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