WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 to help Americans claim more than $26 billion in unredeemed savings bonds, including $337 million that belong to the people of Louisiana.

Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and James Risch (R-Idaho) cosponsored the legislation.

“The Treasury is sitting on billions of dollars that should be in Americans’ pockets—including more than $300 million that belong to Louisianians. Louisianians pay their taxes faithfully, and Washington needs to pay out these savings bonds. The Unclaimed Savings Bond Act would make sure states have what they need to get this money to its rightful owners—so they can invest it in what matters most to their families,” said Kennedy.

“Americans are owed billions of dollars by the federal government for unclaimed, matured savings bonds,” said Moran. “This sensible legislation requires the U.S. Treasury to provide states, including Kansas, with the necessary records to locate the rightful owners and heirs of these matured bonds.”

“Treasury currently holds billions of dollars in unclaimed savings bonds that have been forgotten or lost. This money belongs to the people. Our Unclaimed Savings Bond Act would help Americans identify and access their unclaimed savings bonds,” said Young. “I appreciate Indiana Treasurer of State Kelly Mitchell’s support as we work to help Americans get funds that are rightfully theirs.”

“Washington needs to do its job and returns these bonds to their rightful owners,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill ensures Louisianians will have access to the $337 million in unredeemed savings they have earned over the years.”

“Over $470 million is owed to Hoosiers in unredeemed U.S. savings bonds, and I’m proud to join Senator Kennedy to help get this money to its rightful owners,” said Braun.

“The federal government is sitting on billions of dollars in unredeemed savings bonds, including at least $1.4 billion belonging to Floridians,” Rubio said. “This legislation would help the State of Florida to identify bond owners, so that these funds can be returned to their rightful owners.” 

The Treasury Department is currently holding more than $26 billion in matured, unredeemed U.S. savings bonds, most of which the Treasury deems lost, stolen, destroyed or “unclaimed.” Many of these bonds were issued more than 70 years ago and have matured—meaning they no longer earn interest for bondholders. 

In cases in which bonds are not physically possessed by their rightful holders, only the Treasury has the names and addresses of the original bond owners. The Treasury also has the serial numbers needed to claim the bond proceeds.  

The Treasury has not taken any significant actions to proactively reunite bonds with their rightful owners despite its relaunch of Treasury Hunt, an online search tool that allows bond owners to locate bond information, at Kennedy’s request. Individual states, however, conduct programs that reconnect their citizens with unclaimed property. 

Kennedy’s bill would require the Treasury to provide states information about matured and unclaimed bonds so these states can use unclaimed property programs to help find the original owners (or heirs of those original owners) of these bonds. This provision would only apply to unredeemed bonds that matured before 2018.

Text of the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy today introduced the Seniors Saving on Insulin Act and the Vital Medication Affordability Act to help make insulin and epinephrine more affordable for Louisianians.

“Hundreds of thousands of Louisianians rely on lifesaving medications like insulin and epinephrine, and 12 percent of adults in our state have diabetes. Our people need access to affordable medications, especially when our state is recovering from historic storms. My bills would make insulin more affordable for seniors on Medicare and ensure that key health centers pass along discounts on insulin and epinephrine to patients,” said Kennedy. 

The Seniors Saving on Insulin Act would codify as law the Part D Senior Savings Model, which provides Medicare patients with plans that offer affordable insulin. The bill would ensure that Medicare patients could buy a month’s supply of insulin at no more than $35. One-third of Medicare users have diabetes, and more than 3 million Medicare patients rely on insulin. Research has shown that affordable medications make patients more able to care for their health consistently, which improves health outcomes and lowers health care costs in the long term.  

The Vital Medication Affordability Act would require federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), which serve poor, uninsured and rural residents, to pass along their savings on insulin and epinephrine to their patients. FQHCs can purchase prescription drugs at a discount through the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Kennedy’s legislation would make FQHCs offer these discounts on insulin and epinephrine to many patients who otherwise could not afford these medications.

Text of the Seniors Saving on Insulin Act is available here.

Text of the Vital Medication Affordability Act is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) in introducing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Accountability Act of 2021 to bring fiscal accountability to the CFPB. The legislation comes as Senate Democrats advanced the nomination of Rohit Chopra to be CFPB Director for final confirmation.

“The bureaucratic state is always trying to increase its power and decrease its accountability to the Americans it’s supposed to serve. CFPB bureaucrats don’t rely on elected officials in Congress for funding—which means the bureau isn’t accountable to American taxpayers in key ways. That needs to change,” said Kennedy.

“Should Democrats choose to confirm President Biden’s radical nominee, who has dodged questions throughout the confirmation process and is likely to continue the anti-job-creation, unaccountable CFPB conduct of the Obama Administration, the CFPB must be required to go through the regular congressional appropriations process to ensure public accountability. As a lifelong businessman, protecting consumers in the financial marketplace is important, but handing vast government regulatory power to an agency that is not accountable to the American people’s elected representatives is improper. Americans deserve to have far greater input in this agency,” said Hagerty.

Currently, the Federal Reserve is responsible for funding the CFPB. This unusual arrangement allows the CFPB to avoid fiscal accountability to elected officials in Congress. This bill would make the CFPB accountable to taxpayers by requiring Congress, not the Federal Reserve, to fund the bureau’s budget.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and fellow senators in calling on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell to delay a government plan that would hike Louisianians’ flood insurance premiums.

“We write to urgently request that you delay the new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance [Program] (NFIP) rating system known as Risk Rating 2.0, which is scheduled to go into effect for new policies on October 1, 2021. . . . we have serious concerns [about how] the program has thus far been constructed, presented and begun to be implemented and more significantly troubled by reports that nearly 80% of policyholders will see premium increases nationwide,” the senators wrote.

“It is our understanding that internal analysis shows that FEMA estimates roughly 900,000 policyholders, or nearly 20% of all policyholders, will drop out of the program over the next 10 years in large part due to unaffordable premiums under Risk Rating 2.0. In light of this information, we are extremely concerned about the administration’s decision to proceed forward with the implementation of this program without first determining an alternative that avoids the prospect that hundreds of thousands of families will be inclined to forfeit flood insurance on their homes,” the senators explained.

“We are entering the height of hurricane season, and tens of thousands of Americans have already faced destruction of their homes and livelihoods by Hurricane Ida alone. Tragically, this historic storm led to at least 84 deaths and caused tens of billions in unmet needs and property damage,” the senators continued.

The senators expressed several other concerns about Risk Rating 2.0, including the likelihood that NFIP providers would be overburdened with the responsibility of learning a new, untested rating system and the possibility that the NFIP’s reputation could suffer, hurting the integrity and long-term solvency of the program.

“Given these uncertainties, we request that you delay implementation of Risk Rating 2.0 immediately in order to provide time for full Congressional oversight, coordination and correct and transparent implementation,” the senators concluded.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) also signed the letter.

Kennedy has consistently opposed Risk Rating 2.0:

• On August 5, 2021, Kennedy wrote to FEMA asking questions about the transparency, affordability and efficiency of Risk Rating 2.0.
• On June 17, 2021, Kennedy questioned David Maurstad, Senior Executive of the NFIP at FEMA, about Risk Rating 2.0.
• On June 7, 2021, Kennedy introduced the Flood Insurance Fairness Act to stop the Biden administration from unilaterally making changes to the National Flood Insurance Program that would raise premiums for Louisianians affected by flooding.
• On April 16, 2021, Kennedy wrote to Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) of the Senate Banking Committee, requesting a hearing to examine Risk Rating 2.0.

Kennedy has also introduced legislation to extend the National Flood Insurance Program for one year, to Sept. 30, 2022. Without that extension, the NFIP will expire at the end of this month. Kennedy’s efforts to extend the NFIP in 2018 and 2019 both became law.

The letter is available here.