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.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today spoke on the Senate floor to explain how Pres. Biden’s assault on American fossil fuels is driving up prices in nearly every sector of industry. 

Below are key excerpts from his remarks:

“Deeply, profoundly stupid. That is the only way I know how to describe one of the worst decisions behind an administration that has become famous for bad decisions. I am talking about Pres. Biden’s assault on sustainable, affordable energy.”

. . .

“What seems to be underappreciated, Mr. President, however, is how Pres. Biden’s agenda is driving up the price, not just of oil, but of all kinds of necessities that American and Louisiana families need every day. It’s not just about oil and gas—it’s about everything. Not only do most goods get to our homes after riding in trucks, and planes, and cars and ships powered by gas or diesel, but a lot of our plastics and other products—if you think about it—they’re also made from petroleum.” 

. . . 

“The truth is, that American ingenuity—and I’m referring to fossil fuels—has made the most out of one of the most versatile resources that the world has ever known. But, the Biden White House is determined to punish us for that innovation—just determined to punish us—by making every single part of the American Dream more expensive.”

. . . 

“Now, high oil prices are also waterboarding our farmers which contributes to these high food prices. Did you know that we make industrial fertilizer with fossil fuels? And when natural gas costs more, so does fertilizing a field of wheat or corn or soybeans. Some of our herbicides right now are twice as expensive as they were—if farmers can find them.

“Tractors drink diesel, duh. So do some irrigation systems. A gallon of diesel—one gallon—a year ago: Do you know what it was? $3.23. Do you know what it is today? $5.20.

“Now, what does that mean for Louisiana rice farmers and other growers? For every extra dime farmers spend on a gallon of diesel—every extra dime—a grower will spend about $4.50 more for an acre of rice, $2.30 more for an acre of cotton, and an extra $1.74 for an acre of corn. Corn growers—I mentioned corn growers—they also depend on nitrogen fertilizer, which we make with methane.

“And then corn—I mentioned corn—goes into cereal, goes into sweetened drinks, peanut butter, baby food, ketchup and salad dressing. You know, I don’t mean to be ugly, but this administration’s energy policy is deeply, profoundly stupid.” 

. . . 

“For the sake of Americans’ economic futures and for the sake of our national security, Mr. President, we cannot continue to rely on foreign oil imports—we can’t—while pretending to run this country using wind, solar and wishful thinking. Because that’s what the president’s new policy is on energy. It’s wind. It’s solar. It’s wishful thinking. Wishful thinking doesn’t fill gas tanks or grocery carts.”

View Kennedy’s complete remarks here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed for the Ouachita Citizen focused on legislative solutions that would lower the cost of insulin for northeast Louisiana families.

Below are key excerpts:

“Twelve percent of Louisiana adults already live with diabetes, and an estimated 30,000 Louisianians receive this diagnosis every year. Unfortunately, patients with diabetes face annual health care costs that are twice as high as non-diabetics face, in part because insulin can be expensive.”

…

“Insulin costs put many northeast Louisiana families in a financial bind. . . . The median household income in Ouachita Parish is $44,059, and a family of four faces annual health care costs of $10,128. Families in Concordia Parish spend more than 30 percent of their income to cover health care costs. With inflation surging to a 40-year high, the Ending Pricey Insulin Act would improve health care for many Louisiana communities.

“The bill would also help Louisiana’s economy. When diabetes goes untreated, the cost of caring for sufferers takes an even heavier financial toll on our state: Diabetes and prediabetes cost Louisianians roughly $5.7 billion every year in direct medical expenses, taxpayer dollars, and lost productivity.

“Louisianians don’t just rely on insulin. Many adults and children also depend on epinephrine to treat allergic reactions that could turn deadly. That’s why I’m also working to make sure that Federally Qualified Health Centers—which serve poor, uninsured, and rural Americans—help Louisianians get the medicine they need at prices they can bear.”

…

“Historic inflation has made gas, food, and other necessities harder for Louisiana families to afford. Congress must help make insulin cheaper and more accessible—both for diabetics and for the taxpayers who take on additional health care costs when the disease goes untreated.”

The op-ed is available here.