A bipartisan House bill reintroduced Wednesday would allow cannabis businesses to list on Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange - a step that would formalize Wall Street's relationship with an industry that remains, federally speaking, still illegal. Sponsored again by Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Troy Carter (D-LA), the Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses (CLIMB) Act also extends federal protections to a broad array of service providers - accountants, insurers, attorneys, real estate brokers, and others - who work with state-licensed cannabis operations but currently do so under a cloud of federal legal exposure.
What the Bill Actually Does
The core mechanism is a safe harbor. Federal agencies would be barred from taking adverse action against any person or entity "solely because" they provide business assistance to a cannabis-related legitimate business. That phrase carries real weight in the bill's construction; it doesn't legalize marijuana, and it doesn't pretend to. What it does is carve out a protected lane for the surrounding commercial ecosystem that serves the industry.
The list of covered activities is notably expansive. Financial products and services, debt and equity capital, insurance, accounting, real estate, equipment supply, advertising, legal and compliance work, IT, logistics, packaging - all of it would fall under the protective umbrella. Most consequentially for capital markets, the bill extends that same protection to national securities exchanges and market participants that list or facilitate trading in cannabis-related securities. In plain terms: Nasdaq and the NYSE could list cannabis stocks without risk of federal sanction.
That matters more than it might initially appear. Cannabis companies - particularly multistate operators - have long been forced to trade on over-the-counter markets or Canadian exchanges, arrangements that limit liquidity, restrict institutional investor participation, and carry a reputational discount that depresses valuations. Access to major exchanges wouldn't just be symbolic. It would change the financing calculus for the entire sector.
Where This Fits in the Broader Reform Push
The CLIMB Act is incremental by design. It doesn't touch criminal penalties, expungement, or the broader question of federal scheduling - and that's precisely where some advocates have drawn the line. The concern, voiced since earlier versions of the bill circulated in the 117th Congress, is that legislation calibrated to benefit institutional cannabis businesses could advance while people continue serving time or carrying records for the same conduct the industry now profits from. It's a fair critique, and it hasn't gone away.
The more comprehensive financial reform vehicle - the SAFER Banking Act, which would extend broader protections to depository institutions working with cannabis businesses - has not yet been refiled in the current 119th Congress. That gap leaves the CLIMB Act as one of the few active legislative efforts on cannabis finance, which may or may not translate into momentum.
On the administrative side, a separate process is grinding forward - slowly. President Trump directed the attorney general in December to quickly finalize a proposal to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. That hasn't happened yet. If it does, rescheduling would allow state-licensed cannabis businesses to claim federal tax deductions currently blocked by IRS code 280E - a provision that, depending on the operator, can consume a significant share of gross revenue. The CLIMB Act and rescheduling are legally distinct; one doesn't depend on the other. But together, they represent two of the more tangible near-term changes the industry is watching.
The Outlook - and the Catch
The CLIMB Act's prior version, filed in 2022, didn't advance. There's no structural reason to assume this session will be different, though the bill's reintroduction does signal continued bipartisan interest - which, in the current congressional environment, is at least table stakes for a conversation.
What's striking here is the narrow aperture the bill chooses. Incremental cannabis legislation has a complicated history; it tends to satisfy no one completely, moving too slowly for advocates pushing for comprehensive reform while still drawing resistance from members opposed to any federal softening on marijuana. The CLIMB Act, by focusing tightly on capital markets and business services rather than criminal justice or public health provisions, is a deliberate choice to find the path of least resistance. Whether that pragmatism translates into passage or simply produces another well-drafted bill that expires at the end of a Congress remains the central question.
The final bill text had not yet been posted as of Wednesday, though a discussion draft obtained by Marijuana Moment indicates the legislation is substantively consistent with earlier versions, with technical formatting revisions.
