Dozens of lawmakers make bipartisan push for marijuana businesses to access coronavirus relief

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle urged House leaders Friday to let state-legal marijuana businesses access federal assistance offered in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly three dozen members of Congress, including several prominent Democrats and Republicans, called for including the cannabis industry in future coronavirus relief efforts.

In a letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the lawmakers took issue with the industry being excluded from the most recent effort — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES ACT — and warned it could have serious repercussions for marijuana businesses across the country and their employees.

“This lack of access will undoubtedly lead to unnecessary layoffs, reduced hours, pay cuts and furloughs for the workers of cannabis businesses who need support the most,” the lawmakers wrote.

“We ask that House leadership include provisions to allow state-legal cannabis businesses and the businesses who work with this industry to access the critical support they need during this unprecedented time,” they wrote in the letter.

Thirty-three states and counting have legalized marijuana to one degree or another, and nearly a quarter-million Americans are employed by legitimate marijuana businesses in those states.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law, however, so those businesses are not eligible for the billions of dollars in assistance being offered under the recently signed CARES ACT.

The letter was led by co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus — Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon Democrat, Barbara Lee, California Democrat, and Don Young, Alaska Republican — as well as Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican.

Co-signers include an additional 30 members of Congress, among them Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican, and two former 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, Reps. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Eric Swalwell of California.

Requests for comment from the offices of Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, and Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, were not immediately returned Friday morning.