Rep. Ed Perlmutter on outlook for cannabis banking reform amid coronavirus

Colorado Representative Ed Perlmutter joins Yahoo Finance’s Zack Guzman to discuss the future of cannabis in the U.S., along with his outlook on future stimulus legislation.

Video Transcript

ZACK GUZMAN: Right now, but we are discussing an interesting kernel in the Heroes Act-- the Democratic-pushed bill-- $3 trillion worth of stimulus bill that's being pushed through there. Not all of it might be agreed to by Republicans to get it into law, but there are kernels that are gaining some steam. And we want to focus on one of those right now on the cannabis front. You may remember the Safe Banking Act that passed back in September of last year that would give cannabis companies access to banking and shift them away from being a cash-only business.

The bill was introduced by Colorado representative Ed Perlmutter, who joins us now on the show. And, congressman, it's interesting to see a bill get passed twice, but that's what we got going on here in the House. What do you think is the main push? Because we did hear from 34 bipartisan attorneys general backing this as now the time to get this done to help cannabis companies shift away from having to be cash-only. So what do you make of the renewed push and the way that this is now getting more attention yet again?

ED PERLMUTTER: Well, it was, you know, one piece of a very big bill-- clearly was a bipartisan piece, because when we passed it back in September, it was 321 to 103-- like 230 Democrats, 91 Republicans in favor of it. So clearly, this was a bipartisan measure. And at that time, the focus really was on public safety and the fact that so much cash is piled up that it really puts people in jeopardy for assault and battery, for robbery, and those kinds of things.

But now, there's this added element of the potential transmission of the virus on cash. And then you add to that the cannabis industry has some 243,000 employees, 28,000 businesses across the country, it's essential business in 28 states, but it can't access the banking system, and it can't get any Paycheck Protection loans. So that's why we really put it in there-- both from an employment standpoint as well as a safety standpoint.

ZACK GUZMAN: I do like seizing the opportunity here when we look at it. And obviously, there's some tax revenue incentives here as well. But you've always seen this bill as kind of an icebreaker-- at least that's the way you phrased it when we chatted back when it passed in September of last year-- saying that this is kind of a first step in loosening the restrictions around the industry. But I imagine right now, a lot of states would be pretty desperate to get some of that tax revenue in seeing an industry like this continue to grow.

But when you look at what you're going to need to overcome, it's really getting Senate Republicans on board. And it seems like they have denounced this bill as a dream list of policies that Democrats want to see put through. But as you noted, you had support in the House from Republicans on this. So what do you make of the chances for it to actually move forward and get passed now?

ED PERLMUTTER: Well, we have support of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. Jeff Merkley and Michael Bennet, two Democrats, are championing it. Cory Gardner, Republican, is championing it. So you know, I think it has a chance. McConnell, you know, picked it out to say, well, what's it doing in there? It's one thing that actually could add money to the federal treasury as opposed to take away-- you talked about taxes.

But it's-- I think that they're going to-- the Senate is going to accept a number of things that are in the Heroes Act, especially the funding for state and local governments and school districts, because they're going to be in such dire shape because of the fall-off in tax revenue across the country. And if we don't do something about that, firefighters and law enforcement and transportation workers are going to be laid off just at the worst time possible. So there are big chunks of that bill that I know the Senate is going to have to do something about.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, I want to talk about those other chunks before we move on, though. I want to hold you to-- I'm a betting man. A lot of people who watch the show are betting men or women. When you look at the percentage chance, what are the odds you're putting on the Safe Banking Act getting through the Republican-controlled Senate now?

ED PERLMUTTER: I think 50/50. I don't think they're bad. I think that, you know, one Senator described many of the Senators as having sort of-- they're living in the 1950s when it comes to different things like cannabis and stuff like that. But I do think that there is a real effort to get this done. And it would be done in a bipartisan way. And I think the White House, and certainly Secretary Mnuchin, you know, they're familiar with this. We've been talking to them about it for quite some time. So I'd say 50/50.

ZACK GUZMAN: All right, interesting. Interesting odds there. Obviously, it's not a lot of chances that you get at trying to get it through twice, but interesting to see. When we talk about the--

ED PERLMUTTER: But you know, Zack, that bill is sitting there twice now. So the stand-alone bill is in banking committee, and the part that's in Heroes is sort of on the floor of the Senate. So the bill is sitting in the Senate in two forms.

ZACK GUZMAN: When we look at the other pieces, though, the Republicans might be amenable to accepting here, you've got the next round of stimulus checks. That's a piece of the Heroes Act. You've got Secretary Mnuchin talking about the fix to PPP-- not sure if that would be a standalone or separate thing here. But what do you look at in terms of what you're seeing bipartisan support for in terms of the pieces of the Heroes Act that might be the best odds to get through?

ED PERLMUTTER: Well, I say the two that are sort of front in my mind and I think to have bipartisan support-- one would be assistance to state, local-- state and local governments and school districts, just because they're going to be in such bad shape if some backfilling of their tax revenue isn't found and passed to them. Second, you mentioned some fixes to the Paycheck Protection Program.

I think that is something that will get done and has strong bipartisan support. So there is a little more flexibility. For instance, in Colorado, restaurants can't open yet. Now, they may be able to open for outdoor seating. They're doing takeout right now. But they can't open. So the PPP doesn't really work for them, because they can't put their employees to work. They need more flexibility.

So in the Heroes Act, that flexibility of using that eight weeks of Paycheck Protection would extend to the end of the year instead of just to the end of June-- or July 31, whatever it is. But it gives them more flexibility. And I think that will pass. I think there is a strong desire to continue to provide funding for testing and make sure people get tested and to continue to fund vaccine development.

ZACK GUZMAN: And I mean, we have seen, it does seem like, from Senator Rubio as well as Secretary Mnuchin-- there does seem to be a push on that PPP front in extending it. But I want to thank you for taking the time-- exciting times to see your baby get another chance at life here. Congressman Ed Perlmutter, appreciate you chatting with us.

ED PERLMUTTER: All right. Thanks, Zack. I'll talk to you later.