Congressman Carter Introduces Bipartisan Cannabis Bill to Provide Access to Lending Services, Investments, and Grants for State-Legal American Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) and Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) have introduced the bipartisan Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses (CLIMB) Act. This legislation will allow state-legal American cannabis companies, including small, minority, and veteran-owned businesses the ability to access critical lending and investment opportunities currently available to other domestic and regulated industries. The CLIMB Act offers protections to financial lenders and government agencies tasked with promoting economic growth for American businesses and communities, which will help level the playing field against larger, global competitors in the cannabis industry.

“This legislation is an opportunity to bring equity and equal opportunity into our nation’s growing cannabis industry,” said Rep. Carter. “By working directly with small, minority, and veteran-owned cannabis businesses, it’s clear that access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers to entry and to success in the industry. By bringing symmetry into the business ecosystem with the CLIMB Act, we can help communities that have long been harmed by the criminalization of marijuana become leaders in business – and that’s what the American Dream is all about.”

Due to the federal prohibition, state-legal cannabis operators do not have equal access to traditional lending and financing options as non-U.S. companies, which creates significant barriers to entry for American cannabis companies, including minority-owned and ancillary businesses.

“The CLIMB Act will help unleash the full potential of the American cannabis industry," said Saphira Galoob, CEO of US Cannabis Roundtable. "Right now, Canadian cannabis companies can ring the bell at U.S. stock markets and access American capital markets while domestic cannabis businesses are largely locked out of even the most basic financial services. That's not a level playing field. The CLIMB Act fixes this by ensuring American cannabis businesses, workers, and investors have the same opportunities and access to financial services as foreign competitors.”

“The CLIMB Act is an important step toward expanding financial access for small, minority, and women-owned cannabis businesses,” said Mike Lomuto, Board Chairman of the Minority Cannabis Business Association. “Unlocking currently inaccessible tools would help many entrepreneurs build, sustain, and scale their businesses. We encourage Congress to advance this and other reforms that will support business growth and undo the harms of prohibition.”

Background:

Among other items, the CLIMB Act will:

• Provides safe harbor for private financial institutions to offer lending services to state-legal American businesses. Due to the federal prohibition, a majority of American banks will not offer loans or lending options to small, minority and veteran-owned cannabis businesses.
• Protects government agencies such as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Minority Business Development Association (MBDA) from issuing grants and other sources of government funding. The CLIMB Act will allow entrepreneurs and small businesses to apply for funding to start and grow their business in the cannabis industry, particularly in areas most harmed by the failed “War on Drugs.”

Congressman Carter is a member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and is a leader on cannabis policy. He is the author of the Marijuana Misdemeanor Expungement Act which would deliver justice for countless Americans whose lives have been disrupted and deprived because of a misdemeanor Marijuana offense. He also introduced the RESPECT Resolution that outlines steps and practices to create an equitable cannabis industry that addresses, reverses, and repairs the consequences of the failed “War on Drugs.”

Full text of the bill can be found here.

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