The clock is ticking on the current Congressional session, with the 535-member body set to adjourn for the two-year cycle on Jan. 3. With that, the fate of the SAFE Banking Act is still very much up in the air, with no solid intel about exactly what will happen to the measure.
But last-minute lobbying efforts by some stakeholders have begun in earnest. The Independent Community Bankers of America this week pleaded with Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a letter to bring SAFE Banking to the Senate floor for an up-and-down vote.
“We write to ask you to schedule floor consideration of the SAFE Banking Act before year-end 2022 as a stand-alone bill or an amendment to another bill,” the association wrote to Schumer. “This legislation enjoys strong, bipartisan support, would resolve a conflict between state and federal law, and addresses a critical public safety concern. We urge its enactment without further delay.”
SAFE has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives seven times, but stalled in the Senate, where there was opposition from some Democrats as well as Republicans.
But it’s unclear whether there’s time left in the year – or the political will – to get the measure across the finish line, several sources told Green Market Report. One source, when asked for SAFE’s chances in the lame duck session, said the bill is “dead as a doornail.”
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