Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The Oregon Department of Revenue expects little change in the near future to federal regulations that effectively block legal marijuana businesses from receiving banking services.
At a hearing Tuesday of the Oregon House Revenue Committee, Deanna Mack, legislative liaison for the revenue department, told lawmakers that until banks can accommodate cannabis businesses without fear of federal prosecution, "we basically have to plan to deal with high volumes of cash."
About 60 percent of tax payments by Oregon cannabis retailers arrives in cash, compared to 40-45 percent of tax payments in Washington and Colorado, she said. In January, for example, the department received $5.3 million in sales tax payments from cannabis retailers; in 2016, the department collected $60.2 million. Marijuana businesses in Oregon do about $7 million in retail sales each week, or $364 million a year, according to the department.
Cannabis businesses in Oregon also pay their employees, service providers such as accountants and lawyers, their landlords and others in cash, in money orders, or by checks written on accounts opened under another pretense, she said.
"We've got no banks that are interested in taking this on until (marijuana) comes off the (federal) Controlled Substances Act," Mack said.
However, two banks and one credit union in Oregon do provide banking services to cannabis businesses, according to a report written for the Legislature by the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Division of Financial Regulation, in December.
In Colorado and Washington, about 5 percent of all banks and 10 percent of credit unions are providing account services to 60-75 percent of cannabis businesses, said Aeron Teverbaugh, a senior policy analyst with the Division of Financial Regulation.
Teverbaugh said that sharing with banks the licensing information acquired by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is one way to encourage banks to provide account services to cannabis businesses. Oregon could also join with the 28 other states in which marijuana is legal in some form to press for change at the federal level to drug, tax and banking laws affecting marijuana, she said.
Although banks engaging in financial transactions with marijuana companies is technically illegal under federal law, the U.S. departments of Treasury and Justice laid out guidelines for states in which marijuana is legal that would allow banks to provide services. However, absent a solid guarantee they won't be prosecuted for money laundering and other liabilities, banks typically decline cannabis-related business.
"This is a significant issue that we'd all like to address," said Rick Blackwell, policy manager with the Division of Financial Regulation, to the committee, "but unfortunately we're dealing in an environment where this is significant federal overlay and quite a bit of uncertainty."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Lawmakers Hear Cannabis Banking Report
Author: Joseph Ditzler
Contact: 541-382-1811
Photo Credit: Philadelphia Inquierer
Website: The Bulletin
At a hearing Tuesday of the Oregon House Revenue Committee, Deanna Mack, legislative liaison for the revenue department, told lawmakers that until banks can accommodate cannabis businesses without fear of federal prosecution, "we basically have to plan to deal with high volumes of cash."
About 60 percent of tax payments by Oregon cannabis retailers arrives in cash, compared to 40-45 percent of tax payments in Washington and Colorado, she said. In January, for example, the department received $5.3 million in sales tax payments from cannabis retailers; in 2016, the department collected $60.2 million. Marijuana businesses in Oregon do about $7 million in retail sales each week, or $364 million a year, according to the department.
Cannabis businesses in Oregon also pay their employees, service providers such as accountants and lawyers, their landlords and others in cash, in money orders, or by checks written on accounts opened under another pretense, she said.
"We've got no banks that are interested in taking this on until (marijuana) comes off the (federal) Controlled Substances Act," Mack said.
However, two banks and one credit union in Oregon do provide banking services to cannabis businesses, according to a report written for the Legislature by the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Division of Financial Regulation, in December.
In Colorado and Washington, about 5 percent of all banks and 10 percent of credit unions are providing account services to 60-75 percent of cannabis businesses, said Aeron Teverbaugh, a senior policy analyst with the Division of Financial Regulation.
Teverbaugh said that sharing with banks the licensing information acquired by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is one way to encourage banks to provide account services to cannabis businesses. Oregon could also join with the 28 other states in which marijuana is legal in some form to press for change at the federal level to drug, tax and banking laws affecting marijuana, she said.
Although banks engaging in financial transactions with marijuana companies is technically illegal under federal law, the U.S. departments of Treasury and Justice laid out guidelines for states in which marijuana is legal that would allow banks to provide services. However, absent a solid guarantee they won't be prosecuted for money laundering and other liabilities, banks typically decline cannabis-related business.
"This is a significant issue that we'd all like to address," said Rick Blackwell, policy manager with the Division of Financial Regulation, to the committee, "but unfortunately we're dealing in an environment where this is significant federal overlay and quite a bit of uncertainty."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Lawmakers Hear Cannabis Banking Report
Author: Joseph Ditzler
Contact: 541-382-1811
Photo Credit: Philadelphia Inquierer
Website: The Bulletin
