Jul 11, 2019, 09:02am

Congress Votes To Allow Home Loans For Veterans Working In Marijuana Industry

Tom Angell Contributor
Policy

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved an amendment aimed at ending a current Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy that denies home loan applications to military veterans because they work in the marijuana industry.

The measure, authored by Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), was approved in a voice vote as part of a bloc including 33 other amendments.

In May, after being contacted by a constituent who was affected by the VA home loan ban for cannabis workers, Clark led a sign-on letter in which she and 20 House colleagues called on the department to clarify the policy, which has never been publicly spelled out in writing by the government.

“The VA needs to catch up with the times and recognize the growing role of the cannabis economy, which employs over 200,000 Americans,” Clark said in a press release at the time. “Our veterans shouldn’t be penalized or denied the benefits they have earned because they are working in a budding industry.”

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