CLAIM Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5049 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5049

   To create a safe harbor for insurers engaging in the business of
 insurance in connection with a cannabis-related legitimate business,
                        and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 2026

Mr. Cramer (for himself and Mr. Gallego) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To create a safe harbor for insurers engaging in the business of
 insurance in connection with a cannabis-related legitimate business,
                        and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Clarifying Law Around Insurance of
Marijuana Act'' or the ``CLAIM Act''.

SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FOR INSURERS AND THE BUSINESS OF INSURANCE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Cannabis.--The term ``cannabis'' has the meaning given
        the term ``marihuana'' in section 102 of the Controlled
        Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).
            (2) Cannabis product.--The term ``cannabis product'' means
        any article that contains cannabis, including an article which
        is a concentrate, an edible, a tincture, a cannabis-infused
        product, or a topical.
            (3) Cannabis-related legitimate business.--The term
        ``cannabis-related legitimate business'' means a manufacturer,
        producer, or any person or company that--
                    (A) engages in any activity described in
                subparagraph (B) pursuant to a law established by a
                State or a political subdivision of a State, as
                determined by the State or political subdivision; and
                    (B) participates in any business or organized
                activity that involves handling cannabis or cannabis
                products, including cultivating, producing,
                manufacturing, selling, transporting, displaying,
                dispensing, distributing, or purchasing cannabis or
                cannabis products.
            (4) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency''--
                    (A) has the meaning given the term ``Executive
                agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States Code;
                and
                    (B) includes a private attorney described in
                section 3002(1)(B) of title 28, United States Code.
            (5) Financial service.--The term ``financial service''--
                    (A) means a financial product or service, as
                defined in section 1002 of the Consumer Financial
                Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481); and
                    (B) includes--
                            (i) the business of insurance;
                            (ii) whether performed directly or
                        indirectly, the authorizing, processing,
                        clearing, settling, billing, transferring for
                        deposit, transmitting, delivering, instructing
                        to be delivered, reconciling, collecting, or
                        otherwise effectuating or facilitating of
                        payments or funds, where such payments or funds
                        are made or transferred by any means, including
                        by the use of credit cards, debit cards, other
                        payment cards, or other access devices,
                        accounts, original or substitute checks, or
                        electronic funds transfers;
                            (iii) acting as a money transmitting
                        business that directly or indirectly makes use
                        of a depository institution in connection with
                        effectuating or facilitating a payment for a
                        cannabis-related legitimate business or service
                        provider in compliance with section 5330 of
                        title 31, United States Code, and any
                        applicable State law; and
                            (iv) acting as an armored car service for
                        processing and depositing with a depository
                        institution or a Federal Reserve bank with
                        respect to any monetary instruments, as defined
                        in section 1956(c) of title 18, United States
                        Code.
            (6) Indian country.--The term ``Indian country'' has the
        meaning given the term in section 1151 of title 18, United
        States Code.
            (7) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
        meaning given the term in section 102 of the Federally
        Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a).
            (8) Insurer.--The term ``insurer'' has the meaning given
        the term in section 313(r) of title 31, United States Code.
            (9) Manufacturer.--The term ``manufacturer'' means a person
        or company who manufactures, compounds, converts, processes,
        prepares, or packages cannabis or cannabis products.
            (10) Producer.--The term ``producer'' means a person who
        plants, cultivates, harvests, or in any way facilitates the
        natural growth of cannabis.
            (11) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
        Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States.
    (b) Insurers.--A Federal agency may not--
            (1) prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discourage an insurer
        from engaging in the business of insurance in connection with--
                    (A) a cannabis-related legitimate business; or
                    (B) a State, political subdivision of a State, or
                Indian Tribe that exercises jurisdiction over cannabis-
                related legitimate businesses;
            (2) terminate, cancel, or otherwise limit the policies of
        an insurer solely because the insurer has engaged in the
        business of insurance in connection with a cannabis-related
        legitimate business;
            (3) recommend, incentivize, or encourage an insurer not to
        engage in the business of insurance in connection with a
        policyholder, or downgrade or cancel the insurance and
        insurance services offered to a policyholder solely because--
                    (A) the policyholder is--
                            (i) a manufacturer or producer; or
                            (ii) the owner, operator, or employee of a
                        cannabis-related legitimate business;
                    (B) the policyholder later becomes an employee,
                owner, or operator of a cannabis-related legitimate
                business; or
                    (C) the insurer was not aware that the policyholder
                is an employee, owner, or operator of a cannabis-
                related legitimate business; or
            (4) take any adverse or corrective supervisory action on a
        policy to--
                    (A) a cannabis-related legitimate business, solely
                because the owner or operator owns or operates a
                cannabis-related legitimate business;
                    (B) an employee, owner, or operator of a cannabis-
                related legitimate business or service provider, solely
                because the employee, owner, or operator is employed
                by, owns, or operates a cannabis-related legitimate
                business, as applicable; or
                    (C) an owner or operator of real estate or
                equipment that is leased to a cannabis-related
                legitimate business, solely because the owner or
                operator of the real estate or equipment leased the
                equipment or real estate to a cannabis-related
                legitimate business, as applicable.
    (c) Protections Under Federal Law.--With respect to engaging in the
business of insurance within a State, political subdivision of a State,
or Indian country that allows the cultivation, production, manufacture,
sale, transportation, display, dispensing, distribution, or purchase of
cannabis pursuant to a law or regulation of such State, political
subdivision, or Indian Tribe that has jurisdiction over the Indian
country, as applicable, an insurer that engages in the business of
insurance with a cannabis-related legitimate business or service
provider or who otherwise engages with a person in a transaction
permissible under State law related to cannabis, and the officers,
directors, and employees of that insurer may not be held liable
pursuant to any Federal law or regulation--
            (1) solely for engaging in the business of insurance; or
            (2) for further investing any income derived from such
        business of insurance.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall--
            (1) require an insurer to engage in the business of
        insurance in connection with a cannabis-related legitimate
        business; or
            (2) interfere with the regulation of the business of
        insurance in accordance with the Act of entitled ``An Act to
        express the intent of the Congress with reference to the
        regulation of the business of insurance'', approved March 9,
        1945 (commonly known as the ``McCarran-Ferguson Act'') (15
        U.S.C. 1011 et seq.), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
        Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).

SEC. 3. GAO STUDY ON DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
carry out a study on the barriers to marketplace entry, including in
the licensing process, and the access to financial services for
potential and existing minority-owned and women-owned cannabis-related
legitimate businesses.
    (b) Report.--The Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a
report--
            (1) containing all findings and determinations made in
        carrying out the study required under subsection (a); and
            (2) containing any regulatory or legislative
        recommendations for removing barriers to marketplace entry,
        including in the licensing process, and expanding access to
        financial services for potential and existing minority-owned
        and women-owned cannabis-related legitimate businesses.
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