WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today introduced the Bureaucratic Limitation and Overreach Control (BLOCK) Act to establish guardrails for executive agencies’ major rulemaking.

The bill would lower the economic impact requirements of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) for major rules from $100 million to $50 million per year. Rules that the Comptroller General predicts meet or exceed the threshold would require a joint resolution of approval by Congress before the they could go into effect.

“For too long, unelected bureaucrats have tried to take on the job of lawmakers by enforcing regulations that burden millions of people’s lives. My BLOCK Act gives Congress the authority to exercise checks and balances over agencies on behalf of Americans and keeps the administrative state at bay,” said Kennedy.  

• The BLOCK Act would permit a major rule to go into effect if the president determined that it is necessary for national security or disaster response but would still require Congressional approval within 15 session days. The rule would become invalid if a joint resolution of approval had not passed within the timeframe.

• Six months after the bill becomes law, every federal agency would have to submit 20% of the major rules that it currently had in effect to Congress for approval. Following that six-month period, those agencies would have to submit another 20% of their major rules for congressional approval annually. Within five years of the bill’s enactment, Congress would have had the opportunity to approve or disapprove all major rules that were in effect when the BLOCK Act became law.

• The BLOCK Act would allow minor rules, which include those that the Comptroller General predicts will have an economic impact of less than $50 million, to go into effect upon publication in the Federal Register. Congress would still have the authority to pass a joint resolution of disapproval under the CRA to reverse minor rules that an agency had published.

The full bill text is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today introduced the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account Expansion Act to increase the annual contribution limit for Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) so that Americans can afford child or dependent care while they work.  

Between 2018 and 2022, child care costs in Louisiana rose more than 11%.

“Louisianians work tirelessly, but many still struggle to afford the rising cost of caring for a child or loved one. The Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account Expansion Act would help Americans save more money so that they can continue to provide for their families while managing caretaking expenses,” said Kennedy.

A Dependent Care FSA is a pre-tax benefit account that allows Americans to save for dependent care expenses such as preschool, daycare for children or adults, babysitting or elder care.  

Under current law, the maximum contribution limit for a Dependent Care FSA is $5,000 per year if the filer is married and filing a joint tax return or if the filer is single. The annual limit is $2,500 if the filer is married and filing a separate tax return. 

Kennedy’s legislation would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the amount of Americans’ income that can be tax-exempt by expanding the Dependent Care FSA annual contribution limit to $7,500 per household, per year for a married person making a joint filing or to $3,750 for a person who is married but filing separately. 

The full bill text is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $13,491,124 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid. 

“Hurricanes Laura and Ida left south Louisiana with bad damage. This $13.5 million will help our communities rebuild and recover,” said Kennedy.

The FEMA aid will fund the following:

• $6,509,261 to the Louisiana Children’s Medical Center to repair Hurricane Ida damage to East Jefferson General Hospital buildings.

• $3,262,494 to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for office building repairs resulting from Hurricane Laura. 

• $1,312,837 to Office of Risk Management to repair Hurricane Ida damage to the Barataria Landbridge Shoreline Protection Project.

• $1,270,732 to Lafourche Parish Fire District 3 to repair Hurricane Ida damage to the Central Fire Station headquarters building. 

• $1,135,800 to the Office of Risk Management to repair Hurricane Ida damage to marsh habitat.

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in introducing the DiasporaLink Act. The legislation would direct the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to research the feasibility of building an undersea fiber optic cable between the U.S. and Africa.

“Every day, China is laying the groundwork to dominate Africa by controlling internet infrastructure. Beijing is building undersea cables for intelligence transmission, financial transactions and more. This bipartisan bill would help the U.S. defend American interests and support our friends in Africa against the predations of Communist China,” said Kennedy.

“This bipartisan effort is a crucial first step in strengthening America’s global leadership in the telecommunications space–something that impacts our daily lives in an increasingly digital world–and I am proud to work across the aisle with Senator Kennedy to get it done. If constructed, this cable would be an investment in both a physical connection and stronger diplomatic and economic connections between the United State and African nations, and in turn bolster America’s national security by curbing China’s growing influence after years of activity in the region,” said Warnock.

Background:

• There are currently more than 500 undersea fiber optic cables that transmit data around the globe. However, none provide a direct connection between the U.S. and countries in Africa.

• China is rapidly expanding its influence in Africa, including by investing billions into telecommunications infrastructure. 

• The DisporaLink Act would provide valuable research to the U.S. about how important and feasible it is to build a direct undersea fiber optic cable line that connects the U.S. and Africa.

• A direct undersea cable would support U.S. national security by strengthening ties between the U.S. and African nations as well as providing an alternative to the Chinese technology that often indebts developing countries to the communist nation.