MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and 44 other colleagues in introducing the Death Tax Repeal Act to end the federal estate tax for Americans.
Current law requires Americans to pay the federal estate tax when a property, business or land is transferred to them after an individual passes away.
“The government shouldn’t discourage Louisiana’s farmers or landowners from keeping family businesses alive when a person passes away. I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the Death Tax Repeal Act to support America’s family-run businesses,” said Kennedy.
“Family farms and ranches play a vital role in our economy and are the lifeblood of rural communities in South Dakota. Losing even one of them to the death tax is one too many. It’s time to put an end to this punishing, burdensome tax once and for all so that family farms, ranches and small businesses can grow and thrive without costly estate planning or massive tax burdens that can threaten their viability,” said Thune.
Sens. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Curtis (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) cosponsored the bill.
Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) introduced the legislation in the House of Representatives.
The full bill text is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $2,619,792 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana National Guard emergency protective measures and the restoration of a damaged building in Lafourche Parish.
“Louisiana communities depend on the Louisiana National Guard during disasters. This $2.6 million will help cover costs the Guard sustained during Hurricane Francine and restore a facility in Lafourche Parish that Hurricane Ida damaged,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $1,500,842 to the Louisiana Department of Military for emergency protective measures that the Louisiana National Guard undertook during Hurricane Francine.
- $1,118,950 to the Greater Lafourche Port Commission for repairs to the Galliano Main Administrative Office Building due to Hurricane Ida damage.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) in introducing the Simplifying Subcontracting Act to require the federal government to write subcontracting applications in plain, understandable language.
“Government agencies speak an entirely different language from the American people. The Simplifying Subcontracting Act would help Louisiana’s small business owners better compete for contracts by ending Washington’s bureaucratic terminology in the application process,” said Kennedy.
“Small businesses are vital to our economy but are often left out in federal government contracting due to overly complicated, bureaucratic language. The Simplifying Subcontracting Act requires certain federal government contracts to use plain language, enabling more small businesses to compete for these contracts,” said Risch.
Currently, overly technical and specialized language discourages many small businesses from applying for and entering into government contracts.
Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) also cosponsored the bill.
Kennedy first backed the bill in the 118th Congress, during which the Senate Small Business Committee approved it.
The full bill text is available here.
Kennedy introduces resolution to repeal Biden admin’s EPA rule targeting chemical manufacturing
Feb 13 2025
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval to reverse the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule targeting the use of trichloroethylene (TCE).
In Dec. 2024, the Biden administration published its final rule to prohibit all uses of TCE. TCE is a liquid chemical that is found in industrial cleaning products, lubricants, adhesives, sealants, paint and more.
“The Biden administration waged war against America’s chemical producers who provide critical products to many industries and help keep our economy running. Congress should move quickly to take off the handcuffs that President Biden placed on Louisiana and U.S. businesses,” said Kennedy.
Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives.
“The Biden rule for TCE is one of many examples of the Biden Administration’s overregulation. This regulation harms our national security, economy, and critical infrastructure and will cost jobs in my district, so we’re doing everything we can to stop it. I’m proud to partner with Senator Kennedy and get this over the finish line,” said Harshbarger.
The Biden administration’s rule classifies TCE as a regulated substance despite it being a byproduct of two different chemicals, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer. These chemicals can be found in pipes, flooring, medical devices and more. Kennedy’s resolution would repeal the EPA regulation to protect the manufacturing of products that Americans rely on daily.
The full resolution text is available here.
Kennedy introduces bipartisan bill to help rural small businesses secure capital, create jobs
Feb 13 2025
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today introduced the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act to help remove the hurdles that rural small businesses face when they try to access capital.
“Small businesses keep Louisiana’s economy running, and Congress should make sure our rural entrepreneurs aren’t facing unnecessary hurdles to securing capital. Our bill would help rural job creators get their businesses off the ground and better serve American communities,” said Kennedy.
The bill would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to submit an annual report on the unique challenges rural businesses face when trying to secure capital. These reports would allow Congress to better weigh legislative action to expand small businesses’ access to capital.
Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) cosponsored the bill.
Kennedy previously introduced the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act in the 117th and 118th Congresses. The Senate passed the bill in the 118th Congress.
The full bill text is available here.
Kennedy: Congress should not be picking winners and losers in the news media by funding PBS, NPR
Feb 13 2025
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) argued that the federal government should not continue to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP), including the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), on the Senate floor.
Key excerpts of the speech are below:
“It might have made sense many, many, many years ago for the federal government to subsidize and fund public broadcasting. Fifty years ago, that might have made sense, but the ability of the American people today to access whatever news they would like to hear from whatever form of media they choose is no longer limited. It is virtually unlimited—only by the imagination.
“So here is my question, Mr. President. . . . If all this is true, if media has changed and it is accessible to everyone, why is the U.S. Congress still spending half a billion dollars a year—not half a million a year—half a billion dollars a year to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? It makes no sense.”
. . .
“Congress does not send taxpayer money to the most popular podcast host in America. We don’t. The anchors on Fox News, the anchors on CNN, the anchors on MSNBC, nor their stations—they don’t get any taxpayer dollars. Nor do any of the journalists that ask me questions every day in the hallway in this building—unless they work for NPR or PBS or their affiliates or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Congress should not be picking winners and losers in the news media, but that is what we are doing.”
. . .
“President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is looking for fat to trim, Mr. President. As far as I am concerned, this gravy train—this gravy train with biscuit wheels called the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—is the perfect example of a project the American people no longer need and should not fund.”
Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) celebrated the Trump administration’s effort to expose wasteful spending within the federal government in a speech on the Senate floor.
Key excerpts of the speech are below:
“I want to make a brief comment about the continuing saga that our new president is doing, in my judgment, a good job of prosecuting here in Washington. I am talking about his audits of federal government spending and all of the wasteful spending—I call it spending porn—that he is finding.”
. . .
“The battle lines are drawn. Some of my colleagues have decided to support the bureaucracy and the spending porn over the American taxpayer. . . . That is their right.
“It is not against the law or unconstitutional to be foolish in America, but these are the same people . . . who chose to support illegal immigration over the rule of law. These are the same people who have chosen to support teachers’ unions over parents and kids. These are the same people who have chosen to support criminals over cops and victims. These are the same people who have chosen to support transgender athletes over women’s sports. These are the same people who have chosen to support Hamas over Israel.
“They think they are winning. Maybe in this town they are—if you listen to a lot of the pundits up here, if you listen to a lot of the members of the ‘wokerati’ in Washington—but they are not winning in America. The justice stick is coming, and I am very proud to be a part of that effort.”
Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced a bill to repeal the Biden administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 1071 amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial institutions to collect certain personal information on small businesses when they seek a loan.
In 2023, Congress passed Kennedy’s joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to reverse the Biden administration’s rule, which requires banks to report to the CFPB on small business owners’ race, ethnicity and sex; and whether a business is minority-owned, women-owned or LGBT-owned. However, President Joe Biden vetoed the resolution, and the rule remains in effect.
“President Biden’s woke CFPB put small business owners’ information at risk by requiring their personal details to be exposed online. My bill would repeal the last administration’s misguided regulation so that job creators’ private information isn’t public, and government doesn’t stand in the way of Main Street’s access to loans,” Kennedy said.
Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.
Background:
- On March 30, 2023, the CFPB promulgated the final rule implementing Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which amends the ECOA. The rule was published in the Federal Register on May 31, 2023.
- Section 1071 requires covered financial institutions to collect and report certain personal information on small business loan applicants and report that to the CFPB. The CFPB may then make certain parts of that information public, including data that could publicly identify the small business credit applicant.
- In order to comply with the Biden CFPB rule, financial institutions would have to collect information about applicants, including the applicant's census tract, North American Industry Classification System and years in business, among other personal information.
- The rule applies to financial institutions that originated at least 100 small business loans in each of the two preceding calendar years.
- Based on the number of credit transactions for small businesses, covered financial institutions must comply with the final rule beginning Oct. 1, 2024; April 1, 2025; or Jan. 1, 2026.
- A small business is defined as a company with $5 million or less in revenue from the previous fiscal year.
- Among the many concerns about the CFPB’s collecting and storing such personal information is that the agency recently experienced a data breach including the personally identifiable information of 256,000 consumers and failed to properly inform them for two months.
- The implementation of this rule may reduce the availability and accessibility of small business credit by increasing compliance costs of lenders.
Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) cosponsored the bill.
Text of the bill is here.
Kennedy champions No Propaganda Act to end taxpayer funding of partisan government broadcasting network
Feb 11 2025
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, introduced the Senate companion to the No Propaganda Act to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The bill would block federal funding for the CPB, which funnels taxpayer dollars to National Public Radio (NPR), because of the organization’s chronically biased content.
“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting should not be funneling Louisianians’ hard-earned tax dollars to outlets with one-sided coverage that clearly aim to promote a leftist political agenda. The No Propaganda Act would make sure that Americans aren’t footing the bill for biased, government media,” said Kennedy.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.
“The American Taxpayer continues to provide handouts through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to media outlets that have actively pushed Chinese propaganda and have prioritized fighting disinformation over free speech. CPB must be defunded to end the stream of taxpayer funds to biased, anti-American public radio and television stations,” said Perry.
Congress has appropriated more than $15 billion to fund the CPB since 1969, which it allocates to NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). CPB states that its goal is to “educate, inform, foster curiosity, and promote civil discourse essential to American society.”
However, in April, a whistleblower exposed NPR’s decision not to broadcast the Hunter Biden laptop scandal because NPR believed covering the story would help presidential candidate Donald Trump during the 2020 election cycle.
In 2020, reports also revealed that PBS used taxpayer dollars to partner with a Chinese Communist Party-controlled media outlet, CGTN, to produce a pro-Beijing film.
The full bill text is available here.
Kennedy announces $17.9 million for flood mitigation, generators and Hurricanes Ida, Laura aid
Feb 10 2025
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $17,860,797 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for flood mitigation projects and emergency power generator installations in Louisiana.
“Our communities depend on projects to help them prepare for storms and recover from disasters. This $17.9 million will help Louisianians with flood mitigation, emergency generators and permanent repairs after Hurricanes Ida and Laura,” said Kennedy
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $7,239,362 to Lake Charles for permanent repairs to the Purple Heart Recreation Center and Gymnasium due to Hurricane Laura.
- $3,632,990 to St. John the Baptist Parish for the elevation of 21 residential structures.
- $1,908,921 to the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness for the instillation of two permanent generators in Monroe, La.
- $1,906,342 to St. John the Baptist Parish for management costs as a result of Hurricane Ida.
- $1,492,935 to Livingston Parish for the replacement of the Lod Stafford Road Bridge as a result of Hurricane Ida.
- $1,421,300 to Winn Parish for the installation of 15 emergency power generator systems.
- $201,832 to St. John the Baptist Parish for management costs associated with the elevation of 21 residential structures.
- $57,115 to Winn Parish for management costs associated with the installation of the 15 emergency power generator systems.
