US House will pass MORE Act but Senate likely won't yet

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019 or MORE Act removes cannabis from Schedule 1 and legalization remains in the hands of the states. The bill's lead sponsor in the Senate is Vice President-elect Sen. Kamala Harris. 

It's unlikely the bill will pass in the current Senate but after the Georgia runoffs in January Vice President Harris will vote to break a 50-50 tie.

The Act:

replaces statutory references to marijuana and marihuana with cannabis, 

requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees, 

establishes a trust fund to support various programs and services for individuals and businesses in communities impacted by the war on drugs, 

imposes a 5% tax on cannabis products and requires revenues to be deposited into the trust fund, 

makes Small Business Administration loans and services available to entities that are cannabis-related legitimate businesses or service providers, 

prohibits the denial of federal public benefits to a person on the basis of certain cannabis-related conduct or convictions, 

prohibits the denial of benefits and protections under immigration laws on the basis of a cannabis-related event (e.g., conduct or a conviction), 

and establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses.