CLAIM Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2201 To create a safe harbor for insurers engaging in the business of insurance in connection with a cannabis-related business, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 22, 2019 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. PAUL, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. CRAMER) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee 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 busi- ness, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clarifying Law Around 4 Insurance of Marijuana Act’’ or the ‘‘CLAIM Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FOR INSURERS AND THE BUSINESS 6 OF INSURANCE. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2201.IS S2201 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2201 IS (1) CANNABIS.—The term ‘‘cannabis’’ has the 1 meaning given the term ‘‘marihuana’’ in section 102 2 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 3 (2) CANNABIS PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘cannabis 4 product’’ means any article that contains cannabis, 5 including an article that is a concentrate, an edible, 6 a tincture, a cannabis-infused product, a topical, or 7 a flower. 8 (3) CANNABIS-RELATED BUSINESS.—The term 9 ‘‘cannabis-related business’’ means a manufacturer, 10 producer, or any person or company that— 11 (A) engages in any activity described in 12 subparagraph (B) pursuant to a law established 13 by a State or a political subdivision of a State; 14 (B)(i) participates in any business or orga- 15 nized activity that involves handling cannabis or 16 cannabis products, including cultivating, pro- 17 ducing, manufacturing, selling, transporting, 18 displaying, dispensing, distributing, or pur- 19 chasing cannabis or cannabis products or dis- 20 tributing or deriving any proceeds, directly or 21 indirectly, from cannabis or cannabis products; 22 or 23 (ii) provides— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2201.IS S2201 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2201 IS (I) any financial service, including re- 1 tirement plans or exchange traded funds, 2 relating to cannabis; or 3 (II) any business services, including 4 the sale or lease of real or any other prop- 5 erty, legal or other licensed services, or any 6 other ancillary service, relating to can- 7 nabis. 8 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 9 agency’’— 10 (A) has the meaning given the term ‘‘Exec- 11 utive agency’’ in section 105 of title 5, United 12 States Code; and 13 (B) includes a private attorney described 14 in section 3002(1)(B) of title 28, United States 15 Code. 16 (5) FINANCIAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘financial 17 service’’— 18 (A) means a financial product or service, 19 as defined in section 1002 of the Dodd-Frank 20 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection 21 Act (12 U.S.C. 5481); and 22 (B) includes the business of insurance. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2201.IS S2201 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2201 IS (6) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun- 1 try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 2 of title 18, United States Code. 3 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 4 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 5 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 6 (25 U.S.C. 479a). 7 (8) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’ has the 8 meaning given the term in section 313(r) of title 31, 9 United States Code. 10 (9) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac- 11 turer’’ means a person or company who manufac- 12 tures, compounds, converts, processes, prepares, or 13 packages cannabis or cannabis products. 14 (10) PRODUCER.—The term ‘‘producer’’ means 15 a person who plants, cultivates, harvests, or in any 16 way facilitates the natural growth of cannabis. 17 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 18 the several States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 19 Rico, and any territory or possession of the United 20 States. 21 (b) INSURERS.—A Federal agency may not— 22 (1) prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discourage 23 an insurer from engaging in the business of insur- 24 ance in connection with— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2201.IS S2201 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2201 IS (A) a cannabis-related business; or 1 (B) a State, political subdivision of a 2 State, or Indian tribe that exercises jurisdiction 3 over cannabis-related businesses; 4 (2) terminate, cancel, or otherwise limit the 5 policies of an insurer solely because the insurer has 6 engaged in the business of insurance in connection 7 with a cannabis-related business; 8 (3) recommend, incentivize, or encourage an in- 9 surer not to engage in the business of insurance in 10 connection with a policyholder, or downgrade or can- 11 cel the insurance and insurance services offered to a 12 policyholder solely because— 13 (A) the policyholder is— 14 (i) a manufacturer or producer; or 15 (ii) the owner, operator, or employee 16 of a cannabis-related business; 17 (B) the policyholder later becomes an em- 18 ployee, owner, or operator of a cannabis-related 19 business; or 20 (C) the insurer was not aware that the pol- 21 icyholder is an employee, owner, or operator of 22 a cannabis-related business; or 23 (4) take any adverse or corrective supervisory 24 action on a policy to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2201.IS S2201 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2201 IS (A) a cannabis-related business, solely be- 1 cause the owner or operator owns or operates a 2 cannabis-related business; 3 (B) an employee, owner, or operator of a 4 cannabis-related legitimate business or service 5 provider, solely because the employee, owner, or 6 operator is employed by, owns, or operates a 7 cannabis-related business, as applicable; 8 (C) an owner or operator of real estate or 9 equipment that is leased to a cannabis-related 10 business, solely because the owner or operator 11 of the real estate or equipment leased the 12 equipment or real estate to a cannabis-related 13 business, as applicable. 14 (c) PROTECTIONS UNDER FEDERAL LAW.—With re- 15 spect to engaging in the business of insurance within a 16 State, political subdivision of a State, or Indian country 17 that allows the cultivation, production, manufacture, sale, 18 transportation, display, dispensing, distribution, or pur- 19 chase of cannabis pursuant to a law (including regula- 20 tions) of such State, political subdivision, or Indian Tribe 21 that has jurisdiction over the Indian country, as applica- 22 ble, an insurer that engages in the business of insurance 23 with a cannabis-related business or service provider or who 24 otherwise engages with a person in a transaction permis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2201.IS S2201 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2201 IS sible under State law related to cannabis, and the officers, 1 directors, and employees of that insurer may not be held 2 liable pursuant to any Federal law (including regula- 3 tions)— 4 (1) solely for engaging in the business of insur- 5 ance; or 6 (2) for further investing any income derived 7 from such business of insurance. 8 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 9 shall— 10 (1) require an insurer to engage in the business 11 of insurance in connection with a cannabis-related 12 business; or 13 (2) interfere with the regulation of the business 14 of insurance in accordance with the Act of March 9, 15 1945 (59 Stat. 33, chapter 20; 15 U.S.C. 1011 et 16 seq.) (commonly known as the ‘‘McCarran-Ferguson 17 Act’’), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 18 Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2201.IS S2201 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS