The CLAIM Act (S.5049) would remove federal risk for insurers who underwrite state-legal cannabis businesses and expand study of financial barriers for minority-owned firms. Introduced July 21, 2026, the bill targets a legal conflict that leaves insurers exposed: cannabis remains illegal under federal law while many states license cultivation, processing, distribution and retail.
Sponsors Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) sent S.5049 to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs after it was read twice. The bill establishes a federal “safe harbor” that limits what federal agencies can do to insurers, landlords and corporate officers when those parties provide services to businesses that operate under state cannabis law.
Key provisions – Prohibition on enforcement: A federal agency “may not” prohibit, penalize or otherwise discourage an insurer from covering a “cannabis-related legitimate business” — defined to include manufacturers, producers, transporters, dispensaries and other entities that cultivate, produce, sell, transport or dispense cannabis under state law. – Policy protection: Regulators could not cancel, limit or require changes to an insurer’s policies solely because the insurer covers state-legal cannabis activity. Agencies could not force insurers to drop policyholders just for cannabis involvement, even if the insurer was unaware of that connection when issuing the policy. – Landlord shield: The bill bars federal agencies from taking “adverse or corrective supervisory action” against landlords who lease property to licensed cannabis businesses. – Liability protection: Insurers and their officers, directors and employees “may not be held liable pursuant to any Federal law or regulation” solely for insuring a cannabis business or for reinvesting premiums derived from such coverage.
What the bill does not do – It does not require any insurer to write cannabis coverage; participation remains voluntary. – It preserves state-level control of insurance law by leaving the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 intact. – It does not alter the Dodd-Frank Act (2010) framework for federal financial oversight.
Study on access to services S.5049 directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) — via the Comptroller General — to examine barriers that minority-owned and women-owned cannabis businesses face when seeking financial services. The study will catalog obstacles such as licensing requirements, banking relationships, insurance availability, and access to capital, and then report findings to Congress. The bill specifically asks the GAO to identify which barriers are regulatory, which are market-driven, and where federal or state action could change outcomes.
Context and likely effects Supporters say the measure would reduce legal uncertainty that has discouraged insurers from serving cannabis firms, which in turn raises costs for growers, processors and dispensaries that must self-insure or go without coverage. Concrete examples include commercial property policies for a licensed grower, liability coverage for a dispensary, and indemnity for landlords that host a cannabis storefront.
Opponents may argue the bill weakens federal oversight tools and could shift risk to consumers or taxpayers in indirect ways. Because the bill does not change federal illegality of cannabis, it resolves only one layer of the regulatory conflict — insurance risk — while leaving other federal enforcement questions unchanged.
Next steps S.5049 remains in the Senate Banking Committee. To become law the bill must pass both chambers of Congress and receive the president’s signature. If enacted, regulators would be prohibited from applying federal penalties in the specific circumstances described, and the GAO would deliver a report to Congress laying out barriers to financial services for minority- and women-owned cannabis businesses and potential remedies.
For licensed growers, dispensary operators and property owners, the CLAIM Act would create a clearer legal path for obtaining and maintaining commercial insurance. For Congress, the bill bundles statutory protections with an information-gathering mandate: an explicit shield against certain federal supervisory actions plus a GAO study that aims to quantify access problems and identify targeted fixes.
Bill details: S.5049, “Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana Act” (CLAIM Act), introduced July 21, 2026; sponsors Sen. Kevin Cramer and Sen. Ruben Gallego; referral to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The bill leaves intact the McCarran-Ferguson Act (1945) and Dodd-Frank Act (2010) frameworks.
