WASHINGTON – The National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition has named Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) its Senator of the Year for his support of its mission to fight illegal drugs by equipping narcotics officers and task forces with key resources.

“Illegal drugs have become an extremely destructive force in America today, hurting our communities and our men and women serving on the front lines. The National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition works tirelessly to protect our communities from the consequences of drug abuse, drug trafficking and violent crime. It’s an incredible honor to support these law enforcement agents and to receive this award,” said Kennedy. 

Kennedy’s DUMP Opioids Act became law this year and allows everyone in a community to use drop boxes at Veterans Affairs medical centers to dispose of unused controlled substance prescription medications.

In 2021, Kennedy introduced the Ending the Fentanyl Crisis Act, which would increase the legal penalties for fentanyl traffickers in proportion to the drug’s potency and make it harder for drug dealers to circulate the substance.  

The same year, he introduced the Tourism District Protection Act to empower local police in tourist areas to combat crime and use funding through the Edward R. Byrne Grant Program.

In 2020, Kennedy helped secure almost $3 million to help Louisiana State Police combat opioid abuse.

In 2019, Kennedy helped secure a $11.7 million grant to help Louisiana understand and prevent opioid overdoses.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today applauded the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ move to eliminate the state revenue sharing cap that the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) establishes. Kennedy has worked closely with committee members and his Senate colleagues to lift the revenue cap that penalizes Gulf states unfairly and has remained especially focused, in recent days, on moving this bill to the Senate floor.

The Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act, which Kennedy cosponsored, would reform GOMESA to allow Louisiana and other states to share more resources from offshore oil and gas leases. Kennedy also introduced the Offshore Cap Parity Act to eliminate the GOMESA cap.

“The current GOMESA cap unfairly targets oil producing states and denies them revenue that they have earned. Without this money to build infrastructure and storm barriers, Louisianians remain even more vulnerable to natural disasters. Eliminating the GOMESA cap is key to protecting people’s lives and livelihoods, and I’m glad we’ve made a way to move this bill forward. There’s still more to be done, but this is a step in the right direction,” said Kennedy.

Background:

GOMESA divides federal revenues from the offshore energy production of Gulf states into three portions. The federal government returns 37.5 percent of this revenue to Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. The Land and Water Conservation Fund receives 12.5 percent of offshore revenue and directs most of that money to landlocked states. The final 50 percent of Gulf oil and gas revenue goes to the U.S. Treasury.

The GOMESA cap limits the dollar value of Gulf states’ 37.5 percent revenue share to $375 million, meaning the states receive no benefit when the energy sector peaks and revenues surpass the cap. Conversely, the Mineral Leasing Act ensures that states with onshore drilling operations receive 50 percent of their revenues, while there is no cap on how much money that share includes.

States with onshore energy production typically aren’t required to spend that money on environmental priorities. Louisiana, however, constitutionally dedicates that revenue from offshore energy production fund its coastal conservation and restoration projects.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced the Chase COVID Unemployment Fraud Act of 2022 to recover stolen COVID unemployment money and return it to taxpayers. The legislation encourages states to implement guardrails that would protect against future fraud.

“The greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history is the billions of COVID unemployment money that fraudsters stole. This bill will help recover that money and return it to taxpayers,” said Kennedy.

Of the roughly $163 billion in COVID unemployment insurance that people took illegally, states have only recovered about $4 billion. The bill would fight fraud by: 

• Incentivizing states to recover fraudulent unemployment payments by allowing them to retain 25 percent of the funds they recover from federal COVID unemployment programs. Workforce agencies currently have little incentive to go after fraud and must pay the up-front costs of hiring investigators and paying to prosecute fraud.
• Preventing further fraud by requiring states to match unemployment claims and verify employment, in addition to preventing incarcerated people from receiving unemployment benefits.
• Prohibiting the Biden administration from allowing states to waive suspicious overpayments by requiring the Department of Labor (DOL) to amend guidance that lets states off the hook for over-looking large volumes of suspicious unemployment claims. 
• Requiring the DOL to report on fraudulent overpayments and the amount of money states recover from fraudsters.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) has introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Full text of the bill can he found here. 

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Transparency in CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act along with Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). The legislation would help ensure that the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) does not establish regulations that would result in unreasonable costs or harms to taxpayers, financial entities or consumers.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shouldn’t be able to shackle banks, credit unions or small businesses with rules that only make sense to bureaucrats. The benefits of any new rule should be clear and outweigh any costs. Unfortunately, the CFPB doesn’t have a great track record of that,” said Kennedy.

“I would like to thank Sen. Kennedy for introducing this important piece of legislation in the U.S. Senate. It is long past time for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adhere to a rigorous and transparent cost-benefit analysis,” said Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), who introduced this bill in the House of Representatives. 

“For far too long, the CFPB has operated far outside of the oversight of Congress. The Transparency in CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act is simply the bare minimum in terms of holding the CFPB accountable to Congress and the taxpayers. Thank you to Senator Kennedy and Congressman Mooney for introducing this important legislation,” said Lummis.

The bill would amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to require a thorough cost-benefit analysis for proposed CFPB rules.

The Transparency in CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act would:

• Conduct a qualitative and quantitative assessment of all direct and indirect costs and benefits of the proposed regulation. This includes compliance costs; effects on economic activity, efficiency, competition and capital formation; regulatory and administrative costs; and costs imposed on state, local and tribal entities.
• Identify alternatives to the proposed regulation and compare the benefits and costs of those alternatives.
• Consult with the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy if a proposed rule would increase costs on small businesses.
• Assess the regulatory burden that the proposed regulation would impose on regulated entities.
• Provide a probability distribution of potential cost and benefit outcomes.
• Ensure the proposed rule is not duplicative, inconsistent or incompatible with an existing rule.
• Disclose the source material for any assumptions and identify any studies or data the rulemaking used.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Independent Community Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association, Credit Union National Association and National Association of Federal Credit Unions support this legislation.

The text of the bill is available here.