H.R. 4294: American Energy First Act

116th Congress · introduced 2019-09-11 · Energy · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2019-09-11 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Scalise, Steve [R-LA-1] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

American Energy First Act

Plain summary

American Energy First Act This bill addresses offshore and onshore oil and gas resources, and the use of renewable energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and other federal lands. Among other things, the bill allows states with an established permitting and regulatory program to manage certain federal permitting and regulatory responsibilities for oil and gas development on federal lands within their borders; limits the President's authority to prohibit oil and gas leasing on the OCS; establishes a revenue sharing framework to distribute revenues collected from oil and gas leasing on the OCS to certain states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alaska); provides a mechanism for states to receive their entitled percentage of sales, bonuses, royalties, and rentals for all public land or deposits located in the state; requires the Department of the Interior to establish certain federal land as geothermal and wind energy leasing priority areas; and limits the authority of Interior to declare a moratorium on the leasing of federal lands for oil and gas activities unless such moratorium is authorized by Congress.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

American Energy First Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Scalise, Steve [R-LA-1] · 12 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Ben Cline (R-VA), Kevin Hern (R-OK)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Scalise, Steve [R-LA-1] reported raising $11.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116hr4294.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/hr>

Record fed-us-cong116-hr4294 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116