WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured approximately $122 million for Louisiana special projects in a package of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 spending bills now on its way to President Donald Trump’s desk. 

“In my role on the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ve chased my colleagues like they stole Christmas to get Louisiana the funds we need for projects ranging from hospitals and labs to our roadways, airports, and emergency infrastructure. This $122 million will make Louisiana communities safer, healthier, and more prosperous, and I’m proud that Congress has voted to send this package to President Trump for signature,” said Kennedy.

The package includes spending from the Transportation, Housing, Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, and the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, among others. 

Kennedy’s wins in these subcommittees are in addition to the $284.7 million for Louisiana projects that Kennedy delivered in a previous FY 2026 spending package.

FY 2026 Transportation, Housing, Urban Development, and Related Agencies Bill:

Kennedy delivered $88.55 million for Louisiana special projects in the Transportation, Housing, Urban Development, and Related Agencies spending bill. 

From the Department of Transportation:

• St. Bernard Transportation Corridor ($10 million)
  • Provides a grade-separated crossing of the recently constructed 40 Arpent Trail over the high-speed, four-lane LA 47 (Paris Road) in St. Bernard Parish. 

• West Bank Rail Alignment Project ($8 million)
  • Completes the final design for a project to move freight trains off streets in Gretna, La., Westwego, La., and associated Westbank communities and onto a safer, shorter route.

• Millhaven Interchange Mega-Project ($7 million)
  • Constructs a new interchange and two-lane roadways for the proposed Millhaven Industrial Park in Ouachita Parish. The infrastructure will support the community surrounding Meta’s 4 million square-foot data center amid an estimated increase in commuters.

• Acadiana Regional Airport ($6.6 million)
  • Expands apron space and constructs an approximately 150,000 square-foot hangar at Acadiana Regional Airport, to be used to convert retired Boeing 767 passenger aircraft into cargo aircraft. 

• Ascension Parish Airline Highway Raising Project ($6 million)
  • Raises a flood-prone portion of Airline Highway between Sorrento and Interstate 10 in Ascension Parish.

• U.S. 190 Widening Project ($5 million)
  • Widens U.S. 190 between LA 437 (Lee Road) and LA 25 to alleviate current and forecasted congestion along the US 190 corridor through Covington, La., and western St. Tammany Parish. 

• Tangipahoa Parish Airport Road and Highway 3158 Roundabout Project ($5 million)
  • Designs and constructs two new roundabouts in Tangipahoa Parish, adjacent to Interstate 12 and Highway 3158, to improve public safety and traffic flow.

• Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District Improvements ($5 million)
  • Modernizes the Port of Lake Charles' Industrial Canal facility by paving 12 acres of underutilized land, including connectivity enhancements between warehouses, fabrication buildings, and the waterfront.

• Topsy Bel Road Bridge Replacement ($3 million)
  • Designs, engineers, and installs a new bridge in place of the existing Topsy Bel Road Bridge in Allen Parish.

• LA 47/Hayne Boulevard Improvements ($2.55 million)
  • Improves the LA 47/Hayne Boulevard corridor to undertake a narrowing of the vehicular roadway from four to two lanes, including a Complete Streets approach to accommodate bicycle, pedestrian, and transit stop amenities.

• Chennault International Airport ($1.7 million)
  • Expands Chennault International Airport’s painting facilities, including a new single-bay paint hangar and an accompanying apron.

• Houma-Terrebonne Airport Commission ($1 million)
  • Upgrades the west ramp at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport and doubles its weight capacity.

From the Department of Housing and Urban Development:

• Rough Edge Road Interchange ($7 million)
  • Completes the planning and design of a new Interstate 20 interchange at the current Rough Edge Road overpass in Lincoln Parish.

• Lafayette Emergency Operations Center (EOC) ($5 million)
  • Constructs a modern EOC to support Lafayette Parish and the surrounding region during disaster response and recovery efforts.

• Aviation Career and Education (ACE) Initiative Building Construction ($4.5 million)
  • Renovates an existing building and adds an additional building, housing a new maintenance shop and classrooms, at England Airpark for the ACE Initiative in Alexandria, La.

• Riverfront Revitalization Project ($4.5 million)
  • Assists the City of Abbeville in redeveloping the Historic Riviana Mall, including moving and consolidating two electrical substations to ensure more reliable power.

• Food Bank Improvements ($2.5 million)
  • Supports the Terrebonne Churches United Food Bank to better assist the hungry.

• Monroe, La., Citywide Storm Drainage and Sanitary Sewer Project ($2.2 million)
  • Provides necessary improvements to the City of Monroe's stormwater and sewer systems.

• Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana ($2 million)
  • Supports the creation of a hub to address hunger and organize emergency responses in southwest Louisiana.

FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill

Kennedy achieved $29 million in funding for Louisiana special projects through the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill.

• Centenary College of Louisiana ($10 million)
  • Renovates an existing building to help establish a new School of Health Sciences.

• Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center New Orleans ($4.5 million)
  • Provides research laboratory equipment for three floors of renovated research lab space.

• Natchitoches Regional Medical Center ($4.035 million)
  • Purchases PET/CT equipment for Natchitoches Regional Medical Center’s cancer center.

• Jackson Parish Hospital ($4 million)
  • Constructs a new rural health clinic with an emphasis on women’s health.

• University of Louisiana Lafayette ($2.5 million)
  • Provides research laboratory equipment for the New Iberia Research Center Bio-Safety Facility Level 3 facility upgrade.

• St. Tammany Health System ($1.050 million)
  • Funds equipment and equipment installation in a Nursing and Allied Health Workforce Simulation Lab space to train health care workers.

• Ochsner LSU Health—Monroe Medical Center ($1.010 million)
  • Supports the modernization of equipment within the Monroe Medical Center’s maternal delivery suites.

• Boys and Girls Clubs of Acadiana ($1 million)
  • Supports eight current club sites in Louisiana. 

• University of Louisiana Monroe ($905,000)
  • Purchases a new mobile dental hygiene unit to serve the Louisiana Delta region and other parts of the state. 

FY 2026 Financial Services and General Government Bill:

Kennedy secured $4.4 million for Louisiana special projects through the Financial Services and General Government spending bill.

• Jefferson Parish Economic Development and Port District ($3.65 million)
  • Supports the construction of a regional food and beverage hub on the Westbank of Jefferson Parish, providing small businesses technical assistance and programming to help them grow.

• Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities ($750,000)
  • Supports the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ disaster preparedness and preservation program, which helps small- and medium-sized organizations prepare for disasters by cataloging, preserving, digitizing, and building archives.

WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), along with Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas), urged acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Karen Evans to halt further implementation of the Risk Rating 2.0 pricing system under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and provide full transparency into how flood insurance rates are set.

The lawmakers raised concerns that Risk Rating 2.0 has driven sharp premium increases among Louisianians and nationwide, forcing many homeowners to drop coverage and undermining the NFIP’s long-term stability. 

“Since Risk Rating 2.0 took effect, flood insurance premiums have increased in every state, and FEMA estimates that approximately 77 percent of policyholders now pay more than they would have under the prior system. In Louisiana and other flood-prone states, premium increases of well over 100 percent have forced tens of thousands of homeowners to drop coverage altogether. These trends are not isolated—they reflect a nationwide contraction in NFIP participation driven by affordability pressures,” the senators wrote.

“This loss of participation is a structural problem for the NFIP. Flood insurance depends on a broad risk pool to function effectively. As policyholders exit the program, risk becomes more concentrated, premiums face additional upward pressure, and volatility increases,” they continued.

“We are also concerned by FEMA’s continued lack of transparency surrounding Risk Rating 2.0. FEMA has not released the underlying data, assumptions, or modeling used to generate premium increases, nor provided a mechanism for meaningful external review,” the legislators added. 

In light of these concerns, Kennedy and Cassidy urged FEMA to promptly terminate the current Risk Rating 2.0 pricing methodology and provide transparency into the NFIP’s rate-setting procedures. 

“Time is of the essence. Each year Risk Rating 2.0 remains in place, participation continues to erode, the insurance pool weakens, and taxpayer exposure grows.  Immediate action must be taken to stop the actuarial death spiral. We urge FEMA to act promptly to correct course and ensure the NFIP fulfills its core mission of protecting homeowners, communities, and federal taxpayers alike,” the lawmakers explained. 

Background:

• In March 2023, Kennedy introduced two bills, the Flood Insurance Affordability Act and the Risk Rating 2.0 Transparency Act, to address the disastrous rollout of Risk Rating 2.0. The bills would cap annual flood insurance premium increases and require FEMA to publish an explanation of how the agency determines flood insurance prices under Risk Rating 2.0. 

• In January 2024, Kennedy spoke in the Senate Banking Committee about the premium hikes Louisianians have faced throughout Risk Rating 2.0’s implementation, explaining that FEMA “lied to the American people and my people, and they ought to hide their heads in a bag.”

• In June 2025, Kennedy, Cassidy and seven colleagues authored an earlier letter to FEMA raising concerns about unaffordable premium increases and the lack of transparency under Risk Rating 2.0. Since then, newly available FEMA data and peer-reviewed research have confirmed those concerns, revealing sharp declines in NFIP participation following the implementation of Risk Rating 2.0.

Full text of the January 2026 letter is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $3,787,500 in a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP).

“Winter Storm Fern left behind some of the worst ice conditions I’ve seen in Louisiana, and folks at both the state and federal level have been working around the clock to get our communities back on their feet. This $3.8 million will fund crucial emergency work in Louisiana, including generators for public buildings, fuel trucks, and mobile command units. I've been in constant contact with our federal partners, and I’ll keep working with our friends at FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security to get our people the aid we need,” said Kennedy. 

The FEMA aid will fund the following:

• $3,787,500 to GOHSEP for emergency protective measures, including generators for public buildings that lost power, mobile command units, mobile communications, emergency access, points of distribution, and fuel trucks.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and 22 Senate Republican colleagues in introducing the No Climate Treaties Act, legislation to require Senate approval before the United States enters any binding international climate agreement.

This legislation would ensure that any agreement committing the United States to legally binding emissions reductions—including the Paris climate agreement—is treated as a treaty and submitted to the Senate for advice and consent under Article II of the Constitution. It would also prohibit the use of federal funds to implement or comply with any international climate agreement that has not been approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate.

“Democrats let climate change zealots, TikTok teens, and radical green agenda enthusiasts dictate America’s energy policy for years. The results were disastrous for our country: higher electricity bills, a depleted national fuel reserve, and a mountain of red tape that made it harder for energy producers, especially in Louisiana, to do what they do best: produce energy and create good-paying jobs. Costly international climate deals like the Paris Climate agreement stick American taxpayers with the bill and double down on stupid. The No Climate Treaties Act restores the Senate’s constitutional oversight role over treaties and ensures real accountability and common sense,” said Kennedy.

“Democrat administrations have a history of ignoring the will of the American people and bypassing Senate approval to unilaterally join costly international climate treaties. Climate treaties, like the Paris climate agreement, often set unworkable targets designed to put America at a competitive disadvantage with other countries. They also cost American taxpayers billions of dollars and raise energy prices for working families. The No Climate Treaties Act makes it clear that the United States will no longer join any international climate treaty without Senate approval. This will ensure the American people have the final say on where their tax dollars go,” said Barrasso.

The No Climate Treaties Act would prevent current or future administrations from unilaterally entering or reentering international climate agreements without Senate approval, ensuring that Congress retains rigorous oversight over major international commitments with long-term economic and regulatory consequences.

Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also cosponsored the legislation.

Full text of the bill is available here.