A year of missed opportunities to work for the middle class

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats today released their minority views as part of a mandated report filed by the committee's majority on the activities of the committee during the second half of 2011. The Democrats highlighted a number of missed opportunities to work to grow and strengthen America’s middle class.

“The jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and the Workforce provides numerous opportunities… to pursue public policies that support the middle class and those who strive to join it. This means promoting job creation, improving all Americans’ access to quality education, addressing the squeeze on Americans’ incomes caused by stagnant wages and rising costs, providing security in health and retirement, ensuring equal opportunity for all, and protecting basic health and safety at school and work,” the Democrats’ report said. “Unfortunately…the Committee’s activities have instead largely focused on pushing a tired ideological agenda.”

In June, the committee approved a partisan report that ignored the majority’s lack of jobs legislation, omitted their efforts to reduce support for children, and failed to explore the impact the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it.  The Las Vegas Sun wrote that the June partisan report “was notable for its lack of focus on jobs.”

Read the minority views:

Minority Views – Second Quarter Activities Report

Committee on Education and the Workforce

Second Quarter of the 112th Congress

December 22, 2011

INTRODUCTION

Committee Democrats are committed to growing and strengthening America’s middle class.  As laid out in the Minority Views of the First Quarter Activities Report for the 112th Congress, the jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and the Workforce provides numerous opportunities via oversight and legislative activity to pursue public policies that support the middle class and those who strive to join it.  This means promoting job creation, improving all Americans’ access to quality education, addressing the squeeze on Americans’ incomes caused by stagnant wages and rising costs, providing security in health and retirement, ensuring equal opportunity for all, and protecting basic health and safety at school and work.  Unfortunately, in the second quarter of this Congress, as in the first, the Committee’s activities have instead largely focused on pushing a tired ideological agenda.

EDUCATION POLICY AND OVERSIGHT

Committee Democrats believe that ensuring all students have access to a top-quality education, from early childhood to university, must be an absolute national priority.   Providing all students with an education that prepares them to succeed in the 21st century global economy is critical to the long-term strength of our nation. 

Early Education.  Experts in fields as diverse as child development to military readiness agree that access to high quality early childhood education is critical to our nation’s future.  Early childhood programs are fiscally responsible as they yield savings from improved child outcomes.  Nevertheless, funding for programs like Head Start came under assault by House Republicans early in the session.  Early childhood issues deserve the Committee’s attention.  Unfortunately, Committee Republicans have not held a single early childhood hearing this Congress.

Elementary and Secondary Education.  The intrinsic link between a good education system and a sound economy is why President Obama has called on Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) this year.  Committee Democrats share the President’s concern that the United States is falling further behind our economic peers in education.  Since the beginning of this Congress, Committee Democrats have been calling for a bipartisan ESEA reauthorization bill that tackles our current education challenges and modernizes the system as a whole. 

Committee Democrats believe that ESEA reauthorization should set high standards and goals of college and career readiness and support a modern assessment system; maintain accountability for all students, including current subgroups, but through a richer index of measures that uses growth and graduation rates;  provide states, districts, and schools with the flexibility to improve schools based on their student, school and community needs, including providing wraparound services; facilitate data-based decision making to support a performance-based system; ensure performance is transparent to parents and communities so that they can participate in their schools and support their success; and support a professional environment for teachers and school leaders and provide them with the information and resources necessary to succeed.

ESEA reauthorization remains to be done.  This quarter, the Committee moved a charter schools reform bill with bipartisan support.  It also moved highly partisan legislation that eviscerates the very civil rights principles that drove creation of the first ESEA.   H.R. 2445, reported out of the Committee with all Democrats voting in opposition, raids federal funding for disadvantaged and minority students and undermines federal efforts at ensuring equal opportunity in schools.

History shows that reauthorization of ESEA requires bipartisanship.  For the benefit of students, partisanship should be set aside, and Republicans and Democrats should do the hard work of hammering out a consensus on education reform.  Unfortunately, at the end of this session, Committee Republicans have indicated that they have begun work on a partisan ESEA reauthorization bill, putting in peril any hopes of enacting desperately needed updates to the law this Congress.

Higher Education.  Ensuring access to an affordable college education is critical to a competitive 21st Century workforce and a critical responsibility of this Committee.  The Majority’s report underscores how little attention was paid in this quarter to examining the real obstacles students seeking a college degree face and the federal student aid programs that support students.  But for a hearing on the high-cost of college and another on the successful transition to the Direct Lending program, the Majority choose to repackage anti-regulation hearings from the first six months of this Congress and yield policy choices impacting Pell Grant eligibility to appropriators in the eleventh hour. The Pell Grant is the cornerstone of federal student aid and this Committee chose not to hold a single hearing exploring ways to maintain its fullest availability. In light of the changes appropriators made to this important program, this Committee must monitor the impact of these choices very carefully over the next year. 

Child Nutrition.  One in three children is overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of developing other serious health problems.  In the 111th Congress, an enacted, bipartisan child nutrition reauthorization established a timeline for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue regulations for providing healthier meals to students in school. USDA has already begun this deliberative, science-based process. Unfortunately, the Republican Majority in the House included a provision in the House Agriculture Appropriations Bill to roll back USDA’s efforts to improve the quality of school meals for students. A version of this provision was later included in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (H.R. 2112, P.L. 112-55), which was signed into law on November 18, 2011. The final bill allows politics and powerful lobby groups to win over sound science. The law blocks USDA from limiting starchy vegetables to two servings a week (the rule was intended to cut down on french fries, which some schools serve daily); allows USDA to count two tablespoons of tomato paste as a vegetable, which means that pizza could be considered a vegetable; and requires further study on long-term sodium reduction requirements set forth by the USDA guidelines. Committee Democrats strongly oppose these provisions and remain committed to ending the obesity crisis to help children succeed in school and live healthier lives.

Child Safety.  Republican Committee activities’ lack of attention to child safety issues is concerning.  These issues demand Committee action.

For example, potential weaknesses in laws designed to keep children safe have come to light in the wake of the alleged sexual crimes committed on the campuses of the Pennsylvania State University and the Citadel.  Democrats called on Committee Republicans to hold a hearing to evaluate any inherent weaknesses, inconsistencies, or inadequate implementation of Section 485(f) of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, also known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act), and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act that may put children at risk of harm.  But no hearing has been scheduled. 

Following investigations and oversight work conducted in previous Congresses, Democrats have introduced bills that have received bipartisan support to address child abuse issues in teen residential programs and in school settings.  The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives twice with bipartisan support in the 110th and 111th Congresses.  The legislation was reintroduced in this Congress earlier this year.  The Keeping All Students Safe Act, which establishes minimum safety standards on seclusion and restraint of students in schools, was also introduced this year.  No Committee action has been taken on either bill or the underlying issues.  Every day of inaction puts more children in harm’s way.

Concussions among student athletes are an alarmingly common problem that demands immediate attention. Committee Democrats reintroduced the Protecting Student Athletes from Concussion Act, which sets minimum safety standards for concussion management in public schools. Despite ample bipartisan support for similar legislation across States and communities, Committee Republicans have failed to take action.

LABOR POLICY AND OVERSIGHT

Labor-related hearings and markups called by Committee Republicans largely focused on ways to undo laws and rules that protect workers and ignored positive legislative solutions that would create and restore good-paying jobs for the American middle class.   Save for a bipartisan bill to update benefits and implement program integrity measures under the Federal Employees Compensation Act, labor bills moved by the Committee Republicans aimed to roll back workers’ rights.  Despite requests from Committee Democrats, the Committee held no hearings on legislation to create jobs, such as President Obama’s American Jobs Act.  The jobs crisis for approximately 24 million unemployed and underemployed Americans has simply gone unaddressed by the Committee. 

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  In lieu of focusing on the jobs crisis, Committee Republicans spent a significant amount of the Committee’s time on issues related to the NLRB.  Over the past year, Committee Republicans have made repeated attacks against the NLRB, a small independent agency that administers and enforces the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain. The exercise and the enforcement of those rights appear to be the target of a wide-ranging campaign against labor unions on Capitol Hill and in certain statehouses.

During the first quarter of 112th Congress, hearings were held to accuse the NLRB of bias and to question the exercise of workers’ First Amendment rights in campaigns to win better wages and working conditions.  These hearings came in the context of attempts to cut or eliminate entirely the funding for the NLRB in the year’s first appropriations bill. 

The second quarter has been little different.  A July 7 hearing attacked a proposed NLRB rule to modernize the union election rules by reducing avoidable delays. Such delays are an essential part of the business model used by anti-union consultants to frustrate workers’ hopes of having a vote.  Delays buy more time to engage in both lawful and unlawful anti-union campaigning.  A September 22 hearing attacked three NLRB decisions in August.  Two of these reversed Bush-era Board decisions from 2002 and 2007 that had upended decades of precedent which had promoted stability in collective bargaining relationships.  A third case involved the application of a traditional community-of-interest standard to bargaining unit determinations in non-acute health care facilities.  Though the decisions were well within the mainstream of NLRB jurisprudence, they were held up as examples of the NLRB being out of control and requiring congressional intervention.

The Committee Republicans moved two bills to significantly undermine workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain.  The first, H.R. 2587, would eliminate the NLRB’s authority to order an employer to restore jobs and production when an employer unlawfully retaliates against employees for exercising their NLRA rights.  Effectively, it would make outsourcing jobs to overseas locations easier.  The bill passed the House in a very partisan vote with no further action this quarter.  The second, H.R. 3094, would operate to delay and ultimately prevent union elections, incentivizing frivolous litigation for that purpose and empowering employers to gerrymander bargaining units as a way to avoid triggering an election altogether.  This bill also passed the House in a very partisan vote with no further action this quarter.

Protecting workers’ rights helped build America’s middle class.  Attacks on these rights and the agency that enforces them only weakens prospects for a fair and sustainable recovery with good jobs for all.  Committee Democrats will continue to fight for American workers’ rights and jobs.

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).  On April 5, 2010, a massive explosion ripped through Massey’s Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, killing 29 miners and injuring two in the worst coal mine accident in our country in nearly 40 years.  Despite repeated testimony before this Committee by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety asking for reform legislation that would give MSHA additional tools to protect miners,  Committee Republicans have stated that they need to wait for investigation reports to be completed before considering reforms. 

Multiple major investigative reports have now been issued by the West Virginia Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel, MSHA, and the United Mine Workers of America.  The reports point to a mine operator that put production over safety time and time again.  Miners were intimidated from speaking out.  MSHA inspections were frustrated by a company practice of providing advance notice of an inspector’s visit.  The corporate culture tolerated safety violations that put miners at risk.  Not only did the operators of the Upper Big Branch mine repeatedly violate the Mine Act, their “practices and procedures encouraged non-compliance,” according to MSHA’s most recent report on the incident.  And, importantly, the reports called for statutory reforms to better protect miners.

On April 15, 2011, Democrats introduced the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act (H.R. 1579), which includes 10 legislative recommendations made by the Governor’s Panel and the Inspector General.   To date, Committee Republicans have not acted on this bill, the calls from investigators for statutory reform, or MSHA’s request for new enforcement tools to help protect miners from unsafe operators.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  Based on preliminary data, in 2010, 4,547 workers were killed from traumatic injuries and there were 3.9 million occupational injuries with between $159 to $318 billion in direct and indirect costs for disabling injuries. Rather than enacting pro-worker safety laws that would require employers to promptly abate violations, expand coverage for state and local government workers, provide for modern whistleblower protections or speed the adoption of standards to prevent combustible dust explosions, Committee Republicans have urged OSHA to roll back agency work on proposed standards to prevent silicosis, attacked OSHA proposals to improve recordkeeping of the estimated 962,000 musculoskeletal injuries each year, and called on OSHA to postpone enforcement of OSHA rules that would improve safety protections against fatal falls in residential roofing and repair.

Committee Democrats believe that job safety laws need to be strengthened. To bring the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHAct) into the 21st century, Democrats have introduced the Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 190). To implement a key recommendation from the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Democrats introduced the Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act (H.R. 503).  To speed the adoption of regulations needed to prevent combustible dust explosions and fires, Democrats introduced the Worker Protections Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act of 2011 (H.R. 522).  To better protect workers from recognized hazards, Committee Democrats have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to identify the roadblocks to timely issuance of OSHA health and safety standards.  To assess the fiscal impacts on state OSHA plans from state and federal budget cuts, Committee Democrats have asked GAO to assess whether budget cuts could cause some state plans to cede jurisdiction over private sector workplaces back to federal OSHA because they cannot maintain minimum staffing levels or satisfy federal performance benchmarks.

Job Training.  With 6 million Americans out of work for at least six months, millions of Americans need access to education and training to get a job.  After an initial House Republican proposal at the start of the 112th Congress to effectively zero out federal funding for worker training, Committee Republicans called a number of general hearings on the topic in certain congressional districts and in Washington, D.C.  Witness testimony, however, demonstrated the need for federal involvement in the nation’s workforce investment programs.  One witness explained that federal “funding was absolutely critical to our region’s ability to expand and improve vital workforce services at the most critical moment in decades.”  Another witness suggested that if funding for the Workforce Investment Act were drastically reduced or eliminated, “the desperation in our communities would heighten.”  These warnings should be heeded.  Committee Republicans, however, have supported proposals that would make major funding and program cuts to job training. 

Committee Democrats believe in strengthening workforce investment so that workers have the skills needed for the jobs of today’s changing economy.   The Committee needs to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act, to modernize the workforce investment system and align it more effectively with the labor market, so that both employers’ needs for qualified workers and workers’ needs for good-paying jobs can be met.

Health Care.  Despite Republican efforts to undo the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Committee heard from many witnesses this Congress who testified in support of the law and its benefits for millions of Americans.  Not only has the law started to improve the health care benefits of American families, the law has spurred desperately needed job growth within our economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 500,000 jobs have been created in the health care and social assistance sector since the passage of the ACA in March 2010. Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that nearly 4 million jobs will be added to the health care and social assistance sector between 2008 and 2018.

The ACA protects American families against some of the worst abuses of the health insurance industry such as the retroactive rescission of coverage when an enrollee becomes sick and lifetime limits on coverage.  The law also ensures that Americans are actually receiving value for their premium dollars and requires rebates of premiums if they exceed federal caps for padding health insurer profits instead of paying for needed medical care.  Over 2.5 million additional young adults between the ages of 19 and 25 have already gained health insurance coverage as a result of the ACA’s expanded access to dependent coverage.

Despite these benefits, the Committee Republicans continued to focus on re-litigating past fights rather than working to ensure that all American have access to quality, affordable health care.  Committee Democrats believe we must continue to oversee and promote the continued implementation of the ACA to ensure that American families have increased access to affordable, quality health care coverage.

Retirement Security.  Surveys show that after the economy and jobs, Americans are worried about their retirement security.  Over half of Americans do not believe they will have adequate income to retire and instead believe they will have to work throughout their senior years.  The shift from defined benefit pensions to 401(k) type savings accounts that do not guarantee a pension has further exacerbated workers’ retirement insecurity.   Over half of workers have less than $32,000 in retirement savings.  Workers who are sacrificing to save for retirement are faced with an array of investment products and may need education and advice on how best to protect their assets.  Federal pension law has always made clear that retirement advice must be in the workers’ interest, but Department of Labor regulations included numerous exemptions from the statute.  The Department is undertaking an effort to modernize its protections to prevent conflicts of interest and assure that investment recommendations are in the worker’s best interest.  The Majority held a hearing to question changes to existing financial services industry practices.  The Department agreed to re-consider its proposed changes to protect workers retirement savings from conflicts of interest.  Committee Democrats support strong protections for workers’ retirement savings and urge the Committee to take additional steps to expand workers’ access to adequate retirement income.

On the oversight front, spurred by a multi-year effort by Committee Democrats to investigate the handling of United Airlines’ 2004 and 2005 pension plan terminations, the largest terminations in history, the Inspector General of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued a report in December finding widespread mismanagement of plan terminations at the agency stretching back many years, affecting not just United, but also other terminated pension plan valuations.  The PBGC has committed to rectifying its errors, and Ranking Member Miller intends to closely monitor the PBGC's efforts to ensure that workers and retirees receive the accurate and maximum benefits owed to them under the law.

Employment Standards – Wage and Hour Protection.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the nation’s key law governing wages and hours of work.  It establishes the federal minimum wage, sets standards for when employers must pay overtime, and prohibits many forms of child labor.  The FLSA is as relevant today as when it was originally enacted during the Great Depression in 1938.  The law continues to encourage job creation and protects a worker’s right to a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. 

Effective enforcement of this law is critical to a fair economy.  In the last Congress, Committee Democrats shone a light on fundamental failures at the Department of Labor to properly handle and pursue workers’ complaints.  In this recent quarter of the 112th Congress, however, Committee Republicans have questioned whether the law should be as enforced as it is.  Despite the magnitude of problems like wage theft and misclassification confronting workers, Committee Republicans took issue with even minor initiatives for improving enforcement at the Department of Labor, such as the Bridge to Justice Program, the Wage and Hour Division’s partnership with the American Bar Association to provide workers with access to an attorney referral service for wage claims the Division is unable to pursue. 

Committee Democrats will continue to explore legislative solutions to the problems of wage theft and misclassification and urge the Committee to ensure that the Department of Labor has adequate resources and effective processes in place to enforce existing wage and hour protections. 

Committee Democrats are also committed to ensuring government expenditures are not used to drive down workers’ wages.  The Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, and federal project labor agreements are critical protections for construction and service workers on federal projects.  However, Committee Republicans have expressed concern over the Davis Bacon prevailing wage determination process.  Committee Republicans held a hearing examining the Department of Labor’s wage methodology, pointing to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found issues with the wage methodology process.  However, this report did not conclude that Davis Bacon prevailing wage rates drive up the cost of federal construction projects or inhibit job growth.   Committee Democrats are encouraged by the Department of Labor’s recent efforts to improve wage survey methodology for Davis-Bacon and will continue to monitor those efforts.  In the meantime, House Republicans have repeatedly attempted to roll back prevailing wage laws altogether in the 112th Congress.  Those attempts to undercut workers’ wages have been unsuccessful.