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Andrew Buczek is a government policy advisor in Dykema's Government Policy Practice Group. He has over 10 years of federal public policy and political experience assisting clients in developing effective legislative, regulatory and political strategies. His practice focuses on building successful partnerships between the federal government and nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, local governments and private industry, with an emphasis in the areas of housing, manufacturing, transportation, science and technology, as well as a wide array of local government and economic development projects.

In 2023, historic strides were made in the efforts to pass federal legislation to protect financial institutions that do business with the cannabis industry. The SAFE Banking Act is a bill that aims to protect banks that serve legal cannabis businesses from federal penalties. The bill was first introduced in 2019 and passed the House of Representatives numerous times but stalled in the Senate during each session. That was, until this year. The Senate Banking Committee, by a notable bipartisan majority of 14-9, on September 27, passed their version of the bill (The SAFER Act) out of committee. The bill, SB. 2860 now goes to the Senate floor sometime for consideration, but roadblocks remain on its future in that chamber.Continue Reading Cannabis Banking Bill Faces Challenges as 2023 Ends, Hopes for Passage in 2024