July 1, 2022

On June 28th, 2022, the Pennsylvania State Legislature saw a banking and financial services bill advance in the legislature that will impact cannabis business and medical marijuana patients.

HB 331 has passed both the House and Senate and will head to Governor Wolf’s desk for enactment. HB 331 is a banking and financial services bill that has an amendment that provides state-level protections for banking and insurance companies to cover cannabis-related businesses. However, this bill does not protect banks from Federal rules and regulations against cannabis-related businesses. State Senator Sharif Street (D – Philadelphia) was quoted saying, “The provisions of cannabis banking are incredibly important… The current provisions that prohibit traditional banking makes it makes it financially difficult for small business people—whether it be people of color or even small farmers—to get engaged in this industry. We want to take the appropriate steps so that, when the federal government moves forward, we as Pennsylvanians are well-positioned to have a diverse industry that maximizes the impact on the lives of Pennsylvanians.”

While HB 331 is not likely to immediately impact the current Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana marketplace, the bill does set up a framework for Pennsylvanians to access financial services for their cannabis-related businesses when the state and federal government enacts adult-use legalization. As Senator Street stated, this bill is a good first step in paving the way for small businesses in Pennsylvania to compete in a potential adult-use marketplace.