•  Pot banking bill vote scheduled for House committee March 26
•  Some are still skeptical about prospects in the Senat

Analysts are keeping a close watch on a House committee vote scheduled for Tuesday on a bill to get cannabis industry cash off the streets and into bank accounts. Called the “SAFE Act,” the measure would allow banks to service cannabis companies that comply with state laws.

The vote is likely to come on March 26 and the measure will probably pass, analysts say, even though some Republicans are said to have raised questions about measures designed to prevent money laundering and ensure compliance with bank secrecy laws.

Cowen still expects the March 26 vote, analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote in a note dated March 21, but wouldn’t be alarmed if there’s a delay to address questions from Representatives Patrick McHenry and Blaine Luetkemeyer about the bill’s impact.

He noted Representative Maxine Waters hasn’t signaled she wants to slow the process, though she might hold another hearing if McHenry were to pledge to back the bill, pending more clarity. “McHenry is right that there is uncertainty about whether the SAFE Act is a perfect fix,” Seiberg said. “Solving this now would ensure that the bill which eventually passes is more useful.”

It would alarm Cowen if McHenry’s issues were to become a starting point for outright GOP opposition to the SAFE Act. “If the SAFE Act moves out of the House on a party line vote, then the pressure for the Senate to permit the measure to get added to another bill will be much less,” Seiberg said. “And the prospects for enactment of pro-cannabis legislation will drop.”