SENATOR CYNTHIA LUMMIS COSPONSORS BIPARTISAN EQUAL ACT, AS MOMENTUM GROWS FOR SENTENCING REFORM

BILL WOULD FINALLY & FULLY ELIMINATE FEDERAL CRACK VS. POWDER COCAINE SENTENCING DISPARITY 

Conservative and Progressive Support is Overwhelming – 361-66 House Vote Emboldens Advocates to Push for Senate Vote Now

*** Justice Action Network’s Holly Harris available for interviews***

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), a staunch conservative, became the seventh Republican cosponsor of the EQUAL Act, which would fully and finally eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. The bill passed in the House of Representatives by a margin of 361-66, with support from across the political spectrum. Senator Lummis joins Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Rob Portman (R-OH), Rand Paul (R-KY), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) as cosponsors. Advocates from across the political spectrum say the addition of Senator Lummis is a clear indication that the EQUAL Act has the bipartisan support and the momentum needed to pass the Senate. 

In response, Holly Harris, President and Executive Director of the Justice Action Network, issued the following statement:

“Thanks to Senator Lummis, and her colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we are on the verge of passing historic legislation that would eliminate a relic of the failed war on drugs, leading to better economic outcomes, stronger families, and safer communities.”

The EQUAL Act has support from influential Senate Republicans and Democrats, a rare and overwhelming bipartisan House vote of 361-66, the backing of law enforcement, civil rights groups, and advocates from the far right to the far left. We urge Leadership to put EQUAL Act on the Senate floor as soon as possible.”