Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seen as pro-cannabis, is heading toward expected approval as Health and Human Services secretary, and cannabis banking woes are aired during hearing

Cannabis stocks rose Wednesday as banking difficulties faced by legal cannabis companies came up in a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill.

Senate actions provided fuel for cannabis stocks to rise on Wednesday, with one committee looking into easing regulations for banks to handle transactions related to legal cannabis businesses, while the full Senate is expected to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is seen as a proponent of legal pot.

A 46% rally in the small-cap Canadian cannabis stock Aurora Cannabis Inc. after the company reported stronger-than-expected revenue also provided a lift to other cannabis companies based in Canada.

Aurora Cannabis said its third-quarter revenue of $61.6 million beat the FactSet consensus estimate of $55.7 million, due partly to strength in its medical-cannabis business.

The Amplify Seymour Cannabis exchange-traded fund (CNBS) rose 4.3% and the AdvisorShares Pure U.S. Cannabis ETF (MSOS) moved up 3.9%.

Among individual cannabis stocks, Canada’s Canopy Growth Corp. was up 22.2%, Tilray Brands Inc. rallied 7% and Cronos Group Inc. rose about 9%.

U.S.-based Cresco Labs Inc. jumped 14.2%, Curaleaf Holdings Inc. was up 10.7% and Trulieve Cannabis Corp. rose 2%.

Meanwhile, Aaron Klein of the Brookings Institution testified before the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday that the need for banks to fill out suspicious-activity reports for cannabis companies’ accounts adds an extra layer of costs for consumers and for financial firms.

Even the bank accounts of people who work at legal cannabis dispensaries must get extra scrutiny, he said.

Kennedy, meanwhile, is viewed in the industry as a pro-cannabis player, but it remains to be seen if he will push a 2023 HHS recommendation to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III, a less restrictive category, under the Controlled Substances Act.

That potential change remains in limbo after advocates for rescheduling cannabis asked a judge to suspend hearings on the matter due to pushback from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Meanwhile, efforts to open up the banking system under the SAFER Banking and SAFE Banking bills have been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives seven times but have never reached a full Senate vote.

Cannabis stocks tend to move on speculation around potential federal reforms, but little actual progress has been made in recent months.