I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3540 

To ensure that certain loan programs of the Small Business Administration 

are made available to cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service 

providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committees on Energy 

and Commerce, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and the Judiciary, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To ensure that certain loan programs of the Small Business 

Administration are made available to cannabis-related 

legitimate businesses and service providers, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Safe Capital 

5 Access for All Small Businesses Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DECRIMINALIZATION OF CANNABIS. 

2 (a) CANNABIS REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE OF CON3 TROLLED SUBSTANCES.—Subsection (c) of schedule I of 

4 section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

5 U.S.C. 812) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘Marihuana’’; and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘Tetrahydrocannabinols’’ 

8 and renumbering accordingly. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED

10 SUBSTANCES ACT.—The Controlled Substances Act (21 

11 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended— 

12 (1) in section 102(44) (21 U.S.C. 802(44)), by 

13 striking ‘‘marihuana,’’; 

14 (2) in section 401(b) (21 U.S.C. 841(b))— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

17 (I) in clause (vi), by inserting 

18 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 

19 (II) by striking (vii); and 

20 (III) by redesignating clause 

21 (viii) as clause (vii); 

22 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

23 (I) in clause (vi), by inserting 

24 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 

25 (II) by striking clause (vii); and 


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1 (III) by redesignating clause 

2 (viii) as clause (vii); 

3 (iii) in subparagraph (C), in the first 

4 sentence, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A), 

5 (B), and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara6 graphs (A) and (B)’’; 

7 (iv) by striking subparagraph (D); 

8 (v) by redesignating subparagraph (E) 

9 as subparagraph (D); and 

10 (vi) in subparagraph (D)(i), as so re11 designated, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (C) 

12 and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

13 (C)’’; 

14 (B) by striking paragraph (4); and 

15 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), 

16 and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respec17 tively; 

18 (3) in section 402(c)(2)(B) (21 U.S.C. 

19 842(c)(2)(B)), by striking ‘‘marihuana,’’; 

20 (4) in section 403(d)(1) (21 U.S.C. 843(d)(1)), 

21 by striking ‘‘marihuana,’’; 

22 (5) in section 418(a) (21 U.S.C. 859(a)), by 

23 striking the last sentence; 

24 (6) in section 419(a) (21 U.S.C. 860(a)), by 

25 striking the last sentence; 


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1 (7) in section 422(d) (21 U.S.C. 863(d))— 

2 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

3 by striking ‘‘marijuana,’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘, such 

5 as a marihuana cigarette,’’; and 

6 (8) in section 516(d) (21 U.S.C. 886(d)), by 

7 striking ‘‘section 401(b)(6)’’ each place the term ap8 pears and inserting ‘‘section 401(b)(5)’’. 

9 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM DRUG CONTROL

11 ACT OF 1986.—The National Forest System Drug 

12 Control Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 559b et seq.) is 

13 amended— 

14 (A) in section 15002(a) (16 U.S.C. 

15 559b(a)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 

16 (B) in section 15003(2) (16 U.S.C. 

17 559c(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 

18 and 

19 (C) in section 15004(2) (16 U.S.C. 

20 559d(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’. 

21 (2) INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS.—Sec22 tion 2516 of title 18, United States Code, is amend23 ed— 

24 (A) in subsection (1)(e), by striking ‘‘, 

25 marihuana,’’; and 


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1 (B) in subsection (2) by striking ‘‘mari2 huana’’. 

3 SEC. 3. 7(a) LOANS TO CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITIMATE 

4 BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

5 Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 636(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(36) LOANS TO CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITI9 MATE BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

11 may not decline to provide a guarantee for a 

12 loan under this subsection to an otherwise eligi13 ble small business concern solely because such 

14 concern is a cannabis-related legitimate busi15 ness or service provider. 

16 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(i) CANNABIS.—The term ‘cannabis’ 

18 has the meaning given the term ‘mari19 huana’ in section 102 of the Controlled 

20 Substances Act. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CANNABIS PRODUCT.—The term 

22 ‘cannabis product’ means any article which 

23 contains cannabis, including an article 

24 which is a concentrate, an edible, a tincVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3540.IH H3540

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1 ture, a cannabis-infused product, or a top2 ical. 

3 ‘‘(iii) CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITI4 MATE BUSINESS.—The term ‘cannabis-re5 lated legitimate business’ means a manu6 facturer, producer, or any person or com7 pany that is a small business concern and 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(I) engages in any activity de10 scribed in subclause (II) pursuant to 

11 a law established by a State or a po12 litical subdivision of a State, as deter13 mined by such State or political sub14 division; and 

15 ‘‘(II) participates in any business 

16 or organized activity that involves 

17 handling cannabis or cannabis prod18 ucts, including cultivating, producing, 

19 manufacturing, selling, transporting, 

20 displaying, dispensing, distributing, or 

21 purchasing cannabis or cannabis prod22 ucts. 

23 ‘‘(iv) MANUFACTURER.—The term 

24 ‘manufacturer’ means a person who manu25 factures, compounds, converts, processes, 


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1 prepares, or packages cannabis or cannabis 

2 products. 

3 ‘‘(v) PRODUCER.—The term ‘pro4 ducer’ means a person who plants, cul5 tivates, harvests, or in any way facilitates 

6 the natural growth of cannabis. 

7 ‘‘(vi) SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

8 ‘service provider’— 

9 ‘‘(I) means a business, organiza10 tion, or other person that— 

11 ‘‘(aa) sells goods or services 

12 to a cannabis-related legitimate 

13 business; or 

14 ‘‘(bb) provides any business 

15 services, including the sale or 

16 lease of real or any other prop17 erty, legal or other licensed serv18 ices, or any other ancillary serv19 ice, relating to cannabis; and 

20 ‘‘(II) does not include a business, 

21 organization, or other person that 

22 participates in any business or orga23 nized activity that involves handling 

24 cannabis or cannabis products, includ25 ing cultivating, producing, manufacVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3540.IH H3540

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1 turing, selling, transporting, dis2 playing, dispensing, distributing, or 

3 purchasing cannabis or cannabis prod4 ucts. 

5 ‘‘(vii) STATE.—The term ‘State’ 

6 means each of the several States, the Dis7 trict of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any 

8 territory or possession of the United 

9 States.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. DISASTER LOANS TO CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITI11 MATE BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

12 Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 636(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (15) the 

14 following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(16) ASSISTANCE TO CANNABIS-RELATED LE16 GITIMATE BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

17 The Administrator may not decline to provide assist18 ance under this subsection to an otherwise eligible 

19 borrower solely because such borrower is a cannabis20 related legitimate business or service provider (as 

21 defined in subsection (a)(36)).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. MICROLOANS TO CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITIMATE 

2 BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

3 Section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 636(m)(13)) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(14) ASSISTANCE TO CANNABIS-RELATED LE7 GITIMATE BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

8 An eligible intermediary may not decline to provide 

9 assistance under this subsection to an otherwise eli10 gible borrower solely because such borrower is a can11 nabis-related legitimate business or service provider 

12 (as defined in subsection (a)(36)).’’. 

13 SEC. 6. STATE OR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LOANS 

14 TO CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITIMATE BUSI15 NESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

16 Title V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 

17 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 511. LOANS TO CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITIMATE 

20 BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

21 ‘‘The Administrator may not decline to provide a 

22 guarantee for a loan under this title to an otherwise eligi23 ble State or local development company solely because 

24 such State or local development company provides financ25 ing to an entity that is a cannabis-related legitimate busiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3540.IH H3540

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1 ness or service provider (as defined in section 7(a)(36) of 

2 the Small Business Act).’’. 

3 SEC. 7. RULEMAKING. 

4 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business 

6 Administration shall issue or amend any rules, standard 

7 operating procedures, other legal or policy guidance nec8 essary to carry out the requirements of this Act and the 

9 amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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