House Moves More Kennedy Priorities on Energy, Geothermal Development, and Child Care Fraud

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed three more measures carrying priorities of Congressman Mike Kennedy (UT-03), advancing his work to expand American energy production, modernize geothermal development, and protect taxpayer-funded child care programs from fraud and abuse. The Utah freshman is now in the top three most productive members of his 70-person freshman class.

With this week's action, Kennedy has passed five sponsored bills through the House this Congress. By comparison, the average freshman member of the 119th Congress has introduced 16 bills and passed one.

The newly passed measures target federal energy permit backlogs, modernizing geothermal energy production, and implementing fraud-fighting guardrails on taxpayer-funded child care programs.

"I came to Congress to be a workhorse, not a show pony," said Rep. Kennedy. "Washington frequently rewards noise over results. My focus has been to find practical, structural fixes to complex issues, do the quiet legislative legwork, and deliver tangible outcomes for the people of Utah."

The three measures passed by the House include:

• The License to Drill Act (H.R. 7831) : Streamlines the federal energy permitting process by allocating targeted resources to clear backlogs delaying domestic energy production.
• The Geothermal Royalty Reform Act (H.R. 5638): Roll-in to the broader Geothermal Energy Advancement Act, this measure modernizes royalty structures under the Geothermal Steam Act. It ensures geothermal facilities pay fees based on their individual operations rather than being tied to the highest-cost facility on a shared lease, unlocking new investment in Utah's untapped energy sectors.
• The Stop Child Care Scams Act (H.R. 7726) : Directly in line with Kennedy's fraud-prevention framework found in The Stop Childcare Funding Fraud Act (H.R.7794), this bill introduces strict accountability metrics to the $8 billion Child Care and Development Block Grant. It mandates that states track improper payments and implement corrective actions, preventing multi-million-dollar fraud schemes recently seen in state-level programs.

A full breakdown of Rep. Kennedy's 27 sponsored bills and 131 co-sponsored measures are available on Congress.gov .