Fairness in Fentanyl Sentencing Act of 2023
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Fairness in Fentanyl Sentencing Act of 2023
This bill modifies the drug quantity thresholds that trigger a mandatory minimum prison term for a defendant who manufactures, distributes, imports, exports, or possesses with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Specifically, the bill reduces from 400 to 20 grams the fentanyl quantity and from 100 to 5 grams the fentanyl analogue quantity that trigger a mandatory minimum prison term for high-level first-time or repeat offenders. It also reduces from 40 to 2 grams the fentanyl quantity and from 10 to 0.5 grams the fentanyl analogue quantity that trigger a mandatory minimum prison term for low-level first-time or repeat offenders.
Additionally, the bill directs the U.S. Postal Service to increase the availability of chemical screening devices and dedicate the appropriate number of personnel to interdict fentanyl and other substances that are unlawfully imported into the United States.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 21, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 21, 2023: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced it on March 21, 2023, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 5 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 21, 2023, 1269 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1269 days ago, on March 21, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers