Mutter this will strengthen the security of our financial system and our country by keeping bad actors like foreign cartels out of cannabis industry but most importantly this amendment will reduce the risk of violent crime in our communities. Let's bring in robyn farzad. Host of public radio's full disclosure. Robyn how does the marijuana cash economy work right now. How would this. Bill change that. Peter to quote the late glenn fry on his special miami vice smuggler's blues. You've got to carry weapons 'cause you always carry cash. And that's not so far from the current state of marijuana dealing more than seventeen billion illegal cannabis was sold in the us last year the majority of which overwhelming majority of which through cash transactions. And so for all the progress legalization now more than thirty states that allow for some sort of marijuana use federal restrictions have kept the banks and other financial intermediaries out of marijuana both kind of explicitly and out of fear of penalty kind of cya. It's a bizarre duality. If this bill gets through banks be able to do businesses with all marijuana companies without any fear of getting into trouble with the exceptions know. Just so many asterisk. I mean what if you're a state chartered bank facilitating a transaction safe for pot tourist in colorado. There's still many states not so. We're going to jump on the cannabis bandwagon and no shortage of red tape and stayed in transaction specific limits. What about then mo. Pay pal cash app. I have many questions What's wrong dealing with cash and from the perspective of these companies. Do they think it's unsafe. Think about cash. Peter in your life right now. It's actually a hassle. I pretty much only take it out for haircuts you kind of for you kind of shed a tear for pickpockets. What's left to mug now that we're overwhelmingly paying for even the smallest transaction over credit card or smartphone but on the flip side the kashdan dominated. Marijuana industry has to shell out dearly for armored cars for couriers everyone fears robberies so many bills counterfeiting and for an enterprise. That's otherwise legal houses. Giving it a green light. Gotta get through the senate. What are the chances of that. I think putting it into something as massive as the seventeen hundred page national defense authorization act. I mean it could grease the skids. It might make it prohibitive for anyone or five or a dozen holdout senators to oppose having said that it's important to point out that this passage it's a milestone for marijuana banks and commerce. It's by no means comprehensive. They're even people on the left that lawn protections and legal reforms. I mean cory booker. Talking about social justice for people facing all these long sentences for small marijuana infraction so there's hardly unanimity in the senate. Certainly this is sort of the way the world is going here at least in this country. Do you think it's easier for lawmakers in congress to push on the finance reform in terms of marijuana then say full legalisation. Yeah and i think kind of slipping it in as a tactical way of doing it. We're still fifty states. Where a divided country. I mean you can go to manhattan where marijuana secondhand smoke. It's now no biggie. On any street corner But that's not the case in little rock or salt lake city even within states. I mean my home state of florida. You compare enforcement in miami and fort lauderdale non versus the panhandle commerce. We know can be within states. It can be interstate but our currency remains national so there's so much that needs comprehensive regulatory codification especially from washington rub and farzad is host of public radio's full disclosure. Thanks as always. Thank you peter. One morning. recently. I stepped outside of my front door and found that my seventh grade daughter was still standing across the street at the bus stop. It had been at least thirty minutes since she'd left the house and school had already started turns out she just experienced something that a lot of kids around the country are going through at the start of this new school year. There was no bus driver to pick her up. I currently have seventy three bus drivers. I am looking to hire thirty seven brandon. George is the director of transportation. At the paradise valley unified school district in phoenix. My kid is one of up to ten thousand students. He's in charge of bussing to school every day. Bus drivers typically our second jobs for a lot of people with the pandemic the mass regulations. And when the pandemic i came about we wasn't sure the impact of what happened on schools. So we did see some of our labor men. Leave the system georgia. I met one afternoon sky. Crossing elementary school in north phoenix. Just as the kids were rushing for the bus to get home george. Let me peaked. My head inside one of one of our drivers junior junior. Junior rodriguez has been driving district bus for three years. Are you feeling like for not enough of people like you. Driving buses is busier than usual. That yes this is real busy. I mean you had to have the low per driving the keystone. You know it is. It is like real busy right now. Ryobi's doubling up on routes and that sort of thing. I just right now doing the Morning davos stain. What do you think. Some people don't want to drive buses these days because they think it's hard that they don't know how to do it this kobe initially like. Are you driving to stay in a way. Because they don't wanna get sick scare but koby because we have the prediction we need and with this affect the bosses and everything and we made sure that is where the the district pays. Drivers like rodriguez up to eighteen bucks an hour in. It's not easy work. You heard they have to double or even triple up. The routes which means that after rodriguez drops off one load of kids heal circle back to the school and do it again. That's why my kid missed. Most of her first period recently here again is transportation director brandon. George it becomes very analytical. We're looking to move drivers on ralston. Make sure that they can hit the bail time so we have to get very creative to see who has a break. The timeframe due to traffic red light speed limits. We take all those things a consideration when we're covering rows the make sure that we can get those students to school on time and picked up and back home safely. Let me give you a little anecdote. my middle school daughter seventh grade. She sometimes gets home forty minutes after the end of school. Which is it's tough. You know it's hot outside. We don't know exactly where she is. What kind of challenges have you heard from parents who were like. Let's get these kids. And i know you're trying but like let's let's get him to school on time because some of them are late for school to pretty much. The parents in the district share your concern when they initially call. I guess they're more leery and a little upset when they understand what we're doing and what we're faced. A lot of them are sympathetic. We walk them through the process on how we are covering routes in typically understand. We are sympathetic. But we also just started driving art school and picking her up and it's not a luxury that most families have to solve. This problem states are getting creative. Massachusetts called in the national guard drive buses. New york is making it easier to get licensed. Sign up at one district in montana and get a four thousand dollar bonus here in arizona brand. George is slapping ads on his fleet which we notice as another bus rolls by naked feed banner showing that we're hiring and now hiring bus drivers will yes sir. Have to pay for it. Absolutely george and his team have also canvassed. The phoenix area and handed out two thousand fliers. We also try to talk about our benefit package. We talk about the twenty one holidays that.