GOP Support Clears Senate Path for Bill on Cocaine Sentencing
- Bill attracts support of 10 Republicans, making passage likely
- Schumer backs bill but hasn’t yet scheduled floor debate
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Ten Senate Republicans have signed on to a bill that would eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack and powder cocaine, paving the way for likely passage in the evenly divided chamber where 60 votes are needed for most legislation.
“That looks like you’d get to 60, really,” said Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, one of the 10 GOP co-sponsors of the EQUAL Act. “This is the Democrats’ prerogative, it’d be nice if they would bring it to the floor.”