CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL — A bill by State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights) that permits legal cannabis businesses to use the banking system is headed toward the house after passing through the senate with no opposition.

Businesses that distribute medical marijuana are cash-only, which makes the industry vulnerable to fraud and criminal, Hutchinson claims. The move also brings Governor JB Pritzker’s promise to legalize recreational marijuana use by the early summer one step closer to fruition.

Last year, the legal medical cannabis industry in Illinois took in $136 million in revenues, her office said.

The proposal prohibits the Secretary of Illinois’ Department of Financial and Professional Regulations from issuing orders against, penalizing or discouraging financial institutions from providing financial services to cannabis-related businesses.