WASHINGTON, D.C. –President Donald Trump signed U.S. Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act (JACK Act), Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act and RBIC Advisers Relief Act into law today.
The JACK Act, S. 2896, requires lobbyists to disclose convictions of bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, tax evasion and money laundering.
The bipartisan Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act, S.2679, will help veteran entrepreneurs cut costs and enhance their economic opportunities by giving them access to surplus federal property.
The RBIC Advisors Relief Act, S. 2765, will remove unnecessary compliance costs hampering the ability to create jobs and encourage economic development in rural communities.
“All three of these laws are common sense legislation,” said Sen. Kennedy. “The JACK Act will help drain the swamp of corrupt lobbyists. The Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act will support our veterans and promote the success of their small businesses. We have over 284,000 veterans in Louisiana and this new law will help our veteran entrepreneurs. The RBIC Advisors Relief Act will promote economic opportunity in rural communities across the United States. I am proud to see these bills become law, and I am thankful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who helped me pass these bills through Congress.”
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) announced today that President Donald Trump has signed his five-month reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The program now is reauthorized until May 31, 2019, protecting millions of American families.
“This is great news for the five million Americans who depend on this program. I don’t have to tell anyone in Louisiana how important the National Flood Insurance Program is,” said Sen. Kennedy. “Now we can work on long-term reforms. We can make the program sustainable without it becoming unaffordable.”
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation by U.S. Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five months secured final passage Friday night. The program will be reauthorized until May 31, 2019.
“More than five million Americans rely on this program to protect their homes, families and businesses. In Louisiana, where nearly every parish sustained flooding in 2016, this program is vital,” said Sen. Kennedy. “This extension gives us some breathing room to work on long-term reforms that will make the program sustainable and affordable.”
“We secured this extension to prevent the National Flood Insurance Program from lapsing and set the stage to secure long-term reforms,” said Dr. Cassidy. “We must create a more accountable, affordable and sustainable system that is good for Louisiana and good for taxpayers.”
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) sent the following letter to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams and SIPC President Stephen Harbeck expressing his concerns about a financial services company, Robinhood, misleading its customers by marketing investment accounts as checking and savings accounts. Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Brain Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Doug Jones (R-Ala.) joined Sen. Kennedy in sending this letter.
December 20, 2018
Dear Chairman Clayton, Chairman McWilliams and Mr. Harbeck:
We write today regarding the recent news that Robinhood plans to open checking and savings accounts now under the guise of “cash management.” Financial technology (fintech) firms like Robinhood serve a vital purpose and increase consumer choice, inclusion, and economic prosperity. Competition with traditional servicers like banks and credit unions can ultimately benefit consumers, but we must continue to maintain the integrity of our financial system as the digital revolution expands.
As you’re aware, on December 13th, Robinhood announced the availability of new checking and savings accounts with a three percent interest rate. Under a now deleted announcement, Robinhood wrote, “your cash in Robinhood is insured up to $250,000 by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). SIPC protects cash deposits in your account in the unlikely event that Robinhood fails.” We commend SIPC for quickly and publicly explaining these accounts would not be insured. Robinhood subsequently retracted its claims and rebranded the new service as “cash management.”
Cash management is an important existing service offered by brokers to address investor demand to better manage their money. We are concerned that rebranding Robinhood’s original announcement to cash management may simply be a way to circumvent regulatory scrutiny without offering full transparency to its customers. As of December 20, over 850,000 people have signed up for the waitlist for Robinhood’s new service, and some of these individuals may have signed up before Robinhood retracted its SIPC insurance claim and because they thought they would be getting “Robinhood Checking and Savings.” Marketing an investment account as a traditional checking or savings account can be misleading and confusing for consumers.
We applaud innovation that reduces barriers to consumer friendly financial products and challenges competitors to improve their business models. This is why Congress will continue to explore options that both encourage innovation, while protecting consumers and the safety and soundness of our financial system. In the meantime, we would appreciate an update on how the SEC, FDIC, and SIPC carefully monitor fintechs who, intentionally or not, blur financial products for competitive advantage. Indeed, robust competition should not come at the expense of customer clarity, and every effort should be made not to mislead customers. We thank you for your consideration and would appreciate a response by January 31, 2019.
Sincerely,
________________________ ________________________
John Kennedy Jack Reed
United States Senator United States Senator
________________________ ________________________
Robert Menendez Mark Warner
United States Senator United States Senator
________________________ ________________________
Brian Schatz Jerry Moran
United States Senator United States Senator
________________________
Doug Jones
United States Senator
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today announced the final passage of legislation that he and U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) introduced to remove unnecessary compliance costs hampering the ability to create jobs and encourage economic development in rural communities. S.2765, RBIC Advisers Relief Act of 2018, now has cleared the House and the Senate.
“We have to ensure the long-term stability of our rural businesses and entrepreneurs. To create jobs and bolster Louisiana’s economy, they need access to capital,” said Sen. Kennedy. “There were a number of unintended consequences to Dodd-Frank. One of those consequences was the creation of unnecessary compliance costs for investment advisers working to create opportunities in rural communities. Our bill fixes that.”
“It is a top priority to ensure that the entrepreneurs and businesses in our rural communities have a fair shot at success,” said Sen. Jones. “This bill is evidence that we can find bipartisan solutions to help promote economic growth in rural America. This is common sense legislation that helps put rural business on an equal playing field and help them access the capital they need to succeed.”
RBICs are licensed under the Rural Business Investment Program (RBIP), a venture capital program created as a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Small Business Administration. The RBIP was designed to promote economic development and job creation in rural communities by investing in companies involved in the production, processing and supply of food and agriculture-related products.
An unintended consequence of Dodd-Frank forced investment advisors to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission if they advised both an RBIC and a venture capital fund. Congress already fixed this burden for Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) in 2015. This bill offers the same crucial relief to RBICs.
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House Passes Duckworth-Kennedy-Durbin Legislation to Help Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Succeed
Dec 20 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act today that was introduced by U.S. Senators John Kennedy (R-LA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to help veteran entrepreneurs cut costs and enhance their economic opportunity by giving them access to surplus federal property. This legislation now heads to the President’s desk to be signed.
The federal surplus property program allows certain non-government organizations to acquire equipment and property that the federal government no longer needs. This legislation adds veterans to the program’s list of eligible recipients, which already includes minority-owned and women-owned small businesses. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property (NASASP) and the American Legion support this legislation.
“All veterans deserve our utmost respect and support after they return home,” said Sen. Kennedy. “Adjusting back to civilian life can be challenging, and as policy makers, we should try to make the transition as seamless and painless as possible. As Americans, we should support and encourage those veterans who decide to start their own small businesses. This legislation will offer veteran entrepreneurs some well-deserved support. The federal surplus property program is already established, so it’s just common sense that we should allow veterans to qualify for the program. I’m happy to see this legislation pass in both chambers and make it to the President’s desk.”
“When our Veterans return home from their service, they deserve our full support as they transition back into civilian life, and that includes supporting their efforts to build and manage a small business,” said Duckworth. “Our nation should be doing much more to help our Veterans and I’m pleased the Senate unanimously passed our bipartisan bill to help Veterans expand their business operations, reduce costs, and create jobs across Illinois and around the country. I’m thrilled we were able to work with members on both sides of the aisle to send this legislation to the President’s desk.”
“Last month we honored the sacrifices of our nation’s veterans, and part of that commemoration is committing to help America’s warriors when they return from battle and transition to civilian life. Countless veterans are entrepreneurs and small business owners making contributions to their communities, but many struggle with the costs of starting a new business idea,” said Durbin. “With passage of the Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act, veterans can now use GAO’s federal property surplus program, which can help veterans save costs as they open new businesses and store fronts. This is a commonsense and bipartisan bill, and I was proud to join Senators Duckworth and Kennedy to help pass it in the Senate.”
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U.S. Senate Passes Continuing Resolution to Extend Flood Insurance and Fund the Government
Dec 20 2018
Sen. Kennedy: ‘Congress missed a prime opportunity to fully fund a border wall’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, voted Wednesday to pass a continuing resolution that funds the federal government and reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through Feb. 8, 2019.
“Congress missed a prime opportunity to strengthen our border security and fully fund a border wall,” said Sen. Kennedy. “Border walls work. The liberal Democrats in Congress know that, which is why they won’t support it. Most of them don’t believe illegal immigration is illegal, and they want open borders. The much-needed border wall funding should have been tied to the ‘criminal justice’ bill that the Democrats so desperately wanted. I am disappointed, but I take solace in the fact that we were able to avoid a lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program. Five million families depend on the NFIP, and we need to agree on a long-term reform. For now, I will keep fighting to fund the program in order to protect Louisiana families.”
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Sen. Kennedy (R-La.) Announces Final Passage of Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act (JACK Act)
Dec 20 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today announced the final passage of bipartisan legislation that will require lobbyists to disclose convictions of bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, tax evasion and money laundering. Both the House and the Senate have now voted in favor of S.2896.
S.2896, the Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act, is known as the JACK Act for lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was convicted of tax fraud and bribery. Abramoff did not have to disclose his criminal history on his registration when he re-registered as a federal lobbyist in 2017.
“The JACK Act will provide much-needed transparency to Capitol Hill. Corrupt lobbyists need to be brought into the sunlight, especially if they’re wearing $6,000 suits,” said Sen. Kennedy. “Political leaders and businesses need to know who’s sitting in front of them. Transparency is the best way to clean up the corruption in Washington. Even cockroaches are scared of sunlight.”
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Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) Announces That Louisiana Is Putting His Medicaid Reforms In Place
Dec 17 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) announced today that the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) today is putting the planks of his reforms into place by using federal income tax data for the verification of Medicaid recipients’ eligibility. Sen. Kennedy is hopeful that the data will prevent the state from wasting millions more dollars on ineligible Medicaid recipients.
Sen. Kennedy filed the Income Verification Act of 2018 in November to reduce fraud in taxpayer-funded government assistance programs by requiring states to use federal tax information to verify income eligibility. A report issued earlier this year by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office found that the state likely wasted up to $85 million on ineligible Medicaid recipients. A new report released today uncovered even more waste because of LDH’s failure to verify household size, taxpayer filer status and all types of income.
“The waste of taxpayer money in the Medicaid program is breathtaking,” said Sen. Kennedy. “LDH should have been checking Medicaid eligibility from day one instead of just throwing millions of dollars in the dirt, but I’m glad someone’s finally seen the light. I congratulate LDH on taking a cue from my bill and using readily available information to make sure even more money isn’t wasted. Sometimes you have to legislate common sense.”
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