New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez confirmed Thursday the introduction of a bipartisan marijuana insurance bill.
This new piece of legislature — The Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana (CLAIM) Act of 2021 — proposes enabling insurance coverage for cannabis and related businesses.
Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, is also chairman of the subcommittee that supervises the insurance industry. The CLAIM bill is co-sponsored by Senators Rand Paul and Jeff Merkley.
Menendez and Paul also co-sponsored the SAFE Banking Act in 2019.
Currently, most of the state-approved cannabis companies are usually prevented from obtaining insurance services like worker’s compensation, property, casualty and title insurance because of federal law. Without insurance, companies can also be denied bank financing services.