Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting for Law.com from Sacramento.

This week, we've got a look at the historic vote in Congress on marijuana banking. Plus, Fox Rothschild's Joshua Horn gives us some insight on his work to get the SEC to OK a cannabis growth fund. And employers are having a hard time hiring, and firing, workers in the era of legal medical marijuana.

Thank you ,Higher Lawyers, for your continued tips and feedback. Keep them coming at [email protected]. Or you can call me at 916-448-2935. Follow me on Twitter at @capitalaccounts.

A Historic House Vote on Cannabis Banking

It took three days of hearings and votes but House Democrats on Thursday finally succeeded in advancing legislation to give cannabis businesses greater access to banking.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act would offer legal safe harbor for banks and credit unions that open their doors state-approved marijuana-related businesses if they comply with a set of reporting requirements. The bill, approved by the House Financial Services Committee, marked Colorado Democrat Rep. Ed Perlmutter's first success in passing the bank-protection legislation in six years of trying.

“What we've done is draft a piece of legislation that is narrowly confined to the financial services industry so that … businesses that are legitimate in their states can get legitimate banking services—credit cards, payroll, checking accounts, lending,” Perlmutter said during a markup hearing Wednesday. “Because we've seen across the country, huge piles of cash are developed by these businesses and particularly create real public safety hazards.”

The committee hearing, which started Tuesday but stretched over three days as Republicans floated hostile amendments, drew a number of industry observers, including former Rep. Barney Frank. The one-time chair of the Financial Services Committee is now working with Beantown Greentown, a Massachusetts collective of cannabis professionals.

The bill has the support of the American Bankers Association and the powerful chairman of the Rules Committee, Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern. But many Republicans still oppose the legislation and its fate in the Senate, if it gets there, is unclear. And not everyone is convinced the bill's protections would go far enough to entice a lot of banks to serve the cannabis industry.

“Banks like certainty,” Joseph Lynyak, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney, told Roll Call. “My concern is if a bank says: 'Are we completely in the clear?' The answer, under this legislation, is: 'You've got less legal risk, but…”

Getting the SEC to 'Yes' on Marijuana

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a Fox Rothschild team whose legal opinion assured the Securities and Exchange Commission that a proposed cannabis-related mutual fund won't violate federal drug laws. This week I checked in with the leader of that team, the firm's cannabis law practice co-chair, Joshua Horn, about that work.

“It's not uncommon for the SEC to ask a fund for additional information” about a proposed investment vehicle, said Horn, who also co-chairs Fox Rothschild's securities industry practice. “This was unique because the fund was investing in the cannabis industry.”

The prospectus for Foothill Capital Management's Cannabis Growth Fund says managers will place at least 80 percent of investments in companies “engaged in legal cannabis-related businesses.” The document specifically mentions producers of consumption devices, CBD-infused goods, lighting systems and industrial hemp. It specifically excludes any United States businesses that touch marijuana flower.

The fund appears to be the only actively managed cannabis growth investment vehicle in the nation.

“It's always neat to be the first guy on the block,” Horn said, acknowledging that, with the growth of the cannabis industry—and the ancillary market—there is plenty of investment legal work on the horizon.

After scrutinizing the fund portfolio, the Fox Rothschild team, retained by Foothill Capital Management, produced a 12-page legal opinion for the SEC. The agency “had no questions after we sent them the letter,” Horn noted. The cannabis fundlaunched last month.

Who Got the Work

• Rhode Island has retained Colorado consulting firm Freedman & Koski for help with Gov. Gina Raimondo's budget proposal to create a recreational cannabis program, Providence station WPRI reports. Firm co-founder Andrew Freedman, a Harvard Law alum, was the state of Colorado's first director of cannabis coordination. Rhode Island will pay the firm $90,000.

• Scott Lever, a Maine deputy health commissioner, will run the state's still-developing recreational marijuana program, the Portland Press Herald reports. As part of his role as deputy commissioner Lever oversaw the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the former home of the state medical marijuana program. Maine voters approved recreational marijuana in 2016, although state leaders have not yet approved rules for adult-use sales.

In the Weeds…

>> A New Jersey appellate court has revived a medical marijuana user's wrongful termination claim. My colleague Charles Toutant writes that funeral home director Justin Wild's original suit against Feeney Funeral Home was blocked by a trial court judge who found the Compassionate Use Act does not require employers to accommodate medical marijuana use. An appellate panel held Wednesday that “because the Compassionate Use Act declared it should not be construed to 'require' an accommodation does not mean such a requirement might not be imposed by other legislation.” [Law.com]

>> Speaking of weed in the workplace, legalized marijuana is giving hiring managers a headache. “Companies facing a shortage of employees from health-care workers to forklift operators are confronting a new challenge: finding candidates who can pass drug tests in states that have legalized marijuana.” [WSJ]

>> Another marijuana group lost its bank access. SunTrust Bank told the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida that it would close its accounts on April 16. “They are on the wrong side of #Florida voters for #MedicalMarijuana trying to stop us but we WON'T stop fighting for YOU: the Patients, the Industry,” the MMBA tweeted.[Florida Politics]

>> MedMen is taking on Miami Beach over the city's restrictions on dispensary locations. In a lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Los Angeles-based MedMen says a new ordinance that requires at least 1,200 feet between dispensaries effectively, and illegally, caps the number of outlets that can open in the city. Akerman litigation partner Alexandra Mora represents MedMen in the case. [Miami Herald]

>> New Jersey and New York hit the pause button on legalization. Legislative leaders in Trenton pulled the plug on a scheduled Monday vote when the whip count came up short. [New Jersey Law Journal] New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will not include recreational plans in the state budget due April 1. [The Hill] Cuomo says he and lawmakers need more time to reach an agreement. Maybe Pennsylvania will beatboth states? Gov. Phil Murphy is also shelving plans to expand the state's medical marijuana program. [NJ.com]

The Calendar: What's Next

March 29-30: The NoCo Hemp Expo takes place in Denver. Legal speakers include Vicente Sederberg partner Shawn Hauser; Rod Kight of Kight Law Office; and patent and trademark attorney Robert Jondle of Jondle & Associates.

April 1-2: CannaTech Tel Aviv runs for two days. Scheduled speakers include Branch & Branch partner Shabnam Malek; Bob Hoban, president & CEO of the Hoban Law Group; and Garfinkle Biderman partner Shimmy Posen. The National Cannabis Bar Association and the American Israeli Cannabis Association host a networking get-together at the event on April 2.

April 2: McDermott Will & Emery hosts the webinar ”The State of the Cannabis and the Hemp Industries.” Speakers include firm partner Marc Sorini, senior legislative advisor James Moran and associate Vanessa Burrows.

April 2: Reed Smith hosts a one-hour webinar, “CANN101 : Introduction to Insurance Coverage.” Partner Michael Sampson will lead the discussion