WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today joined Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in introducing the Main Street Tax Certainty Act to make permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 199A deductions for small businesses.

“More than 230,000 small businesses in Louisiana will face tax hikes if the deductions we passed in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire. The Main Street Tax Certainty Act will help make sure that the backbone of America’s economy continues to provide good-paying jobs to our communities,” said Kennedy. 

“As the son of a contractor, I’ve seen firsthand the hard work it takes to keep a small business flourishing—especially as Americans are still grappling with the effects of Joe Biden’s inflation. It’s absolutely crucial that we pass this legislation to prevent a 20 percent tax increase for hardworking Montanans and I’ll keep fighting for ways to support Montana small businesses, which provide the majority of jobs in our state,” said Daines.

In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law. The law, under section 199A, provides a special tax deduction for millions of America’s small businesses. The 199A deductions are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025 unless Congress acts.

Most businesses in the U.S. are considered "pass-through," which means their income flows through the business onto the owners or members. These profits are taxed as individual income rather than at the corporate rate. The Main Street Tax Certainty Act would permanently provide a 20% tax deduction for pass-through businesses, including sole-proprietorships, S-Corporations, partnerships and limited liability corporations.

Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) also cosponsored the legislation.

The full text of the legislation is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act, which would require district attorneys (DAs) in many large jurisdictions to annually report information on their handling of certain serious crimes to the U.S. Attorney General. Under the bill, DA’s offices that do not report this data risk losing priority funding for their districts.

The bill would specifically require DAs in jurisdictions with more than 360,000 people to submit an annual report disclosing data on, among other things, the number of cases referred to them for crimes including murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault and burglary, and the number of these cases that the DA’s office dropped.

“American families deserve good prosecutors to keep them safe by enforcing the law, but too many district attorneys cater to far-left activists. The Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act would hold rogue prosecutors accountable for refusing to punish criminals and protect innocent Americans,” said Kennedy.

The bill would help correct a nationwide trend of DAs who decline to prosecute serious crimes. In recent years, a multimillion-dollar project has worked to hamstring effective policing in major cities by empowering soft-on-crime prosecutors.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) cosponsored the bill.

“With crime on the rise in Democrat-led cities across the nation, it is imperative that these Soros-backed prosecutors work, do their jobs and get these violent offenders off our streets, instead of allowing career criminals to run rampant in our community. Catch-and-release is enough of a disaster on the Texas-Mexico border. The last thing we need is to institute it in our courts. I’m proud to stand with Sen. Kennedy and our colleagues to demand transparency about this abdication of professional responsibility,” said Cruz.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) introduced the legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Over the last few years, we've seen a disturbing trend in big-city district attorneys working to keep dangerous criminals on our streets rather than behind bars. Look no further than my city of New York where Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg released a 'Day One' memo initially directing his staff to not prosecute certain crimes, downgrade other felony charges filed by police, and no longer seek sentences of life without parole. The same type of woke policies have been enacted by progressive DAs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, and voters have had enough. With prosecutors refusing to prosecute and governors only enabling their leniency, Congress has a responsibility to step in and arm the public with the information they need to make informed decisions at the ballot box,” said Malliotakis. 

The bill’s text is available here.

Kennedy first introduced the bill in the 118th Congress in Feb. 2024.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in introducing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

Current law makes it illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, but it does not require states to verify that every person has U.S. citizenship before he or she registers to vote.

The SAVE Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act to clarify that every state must require proof of citizenship (e.g., a REAL ID compliant driver’s license or U.S. passport) when it registers individuals to vote in federal elections.

“Americans know that U.S. citizenship is sacred and that foreign nationals shouldn’t get to vote in our elections any more than Americans should be able to vote in French or Nigerian elections. The SAVE Act would make sure that people who aren’t even citizens don’t cancel out Louisianians’ or other Americans’ voices at the ballot box,” said Kennedy. 

Since the 2020 presidential election, illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. have increased, making it even more necessary to make sure that every person voting in American elections has proven that he or she is a U.S. citizen. 

The SAVE Act would also:

• Require states to establish a process to remove foreign nationals from existing voter rolls.

• Increase federal penalties for individuals who register foreign nationals to vote in federal elections. 

• Establish acceptable ways for individuals to prove their U.S. citizenship and require states to establish their own processes of demonstrating that citizenship when a person does not have legal documentation.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced a $1,101,904 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to repair ambulance station buildings.

“When Hurricane Laura battered southwest Louisiana, it damaged key emergency facilities across Cameron Parish. This $1.1 million will help Louisianians in Cameron Parish restore damaged ambulance station buildings,” said Kennedy.

The FEMA aid will fund the following:

• $1,101,904 to Cameron Parish for repairs to ambulance station buildings that Hurricane Laura damaged.