House Education & Workforce Committee

U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor released employment data for April:

“The recent slowdown in hiring signals a need for renewed efforts in Washington to advance policies that promote economic certainty and opportunity. Toward that end, House Education and the Workforce Committee Republicans are moving forward with legislation that will help more Americans get back to work.

“Business owners across the country report they are ready to hire, but cannot find workers with the necessary skills. The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 will revamp the nation’s workforce development system to provide workers with the education and support they need to fill local job openings. Preparing today’s workforce for in-demand jobs is a key component in the fight to rebuild our economy, and I urge my Democrat colleagues to lend their support to this commonsense proposal.”

To learn more about the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 4297), click here.

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U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) today offered his support for the Interest Rate Reduction Act (H.R. 4682), legislation introduced by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) that will roll back wasteful ObamaCare spending to pay for a one year extension of the current interest rate on subsidized Stafford Loans made to undergraduate students. The House of Representatives approved H.R. 4682 with bipartisan support in a vote of 215 to 195.

Upon passage, Chairman Kline stated, “The Interest Rate Reduction Act is not a perfect solution, but it will allow us an opportunity to continue working toward a long term solution on student loan interest rates, one based on the free market instead of the whims of politicians in an election year.”

Click below to watch Chairman Kline’s floor remarks on the legislation:

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Just moments ago, the Obama administration threatened to veto Republican legislation that would roll back wasteful ObamaCare spending to provide a one year extension of the current interest rate on subsidized Stafford Loans made to undergraduate students.

According to the administration, the Republican plan would harm women. Perhaps Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius can provide a persuasive rebuttal to the administration’s veto threat.

During a hearing held by the committee just yesterday, Secretary Sebelius admitted to Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) that despite repeal of the ObamaCare slush fund people would still have access to preventative services. The secretary was also forced to admit that the Obama budget cuts funding to the so-called prevention and public  health fund.

 To view the exchange, click below:   

            

The House is scheduled to vote today on the Interest Rate Reduction Act (H.R. 4682), legislation sponsored by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) that will roll back wasteful ObamaCare spending to pay for a one year extension of the current interest rate on subsidized Stafford Loans made to undergraduate students.  The president has visited various battleground states urging Congress to prevent an interest rate spike his party set in motion in 2007. But now that House Republicans are taking action, Washington Democrats are getting cold feet.

Rep. George Miller (D-CA) claimed the Republican plan will “hurt women and children.” And yesterday, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) labeled part of the proposal “grotesque.” What’s the reason for this outrageous rhetoric? The legislation repeals the so-called Prevention and Public Health Fund, an ObamaCare grant program that has become little more than a multi-billion dollar slush fund for the president to spend on his own priorities, and redirects its resources to student loan relief and deficit reduction. Democrats vehemently protest this plan while strategically ignoring four crucial facts:

Not Too Long Ago, Democrats Cut the Slush Fund Too

In February, Congress took action to stop a payroll tax increase on millions of working families. To ensure the tax relief did not add to the deficit, the legislation (H.R. 3630) cut $5 billion from the ObamaCare prevention fund. The bill received the support of 147 House Democrats, including Democrat leaders:

• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Democrat Leader
  Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee
• Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), Ranking Democrat on the Higher Education Subcommittee
• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)

Democrats were in favor of raiding the ObamaCare slush fund before they were against it.

President Obama Supported Slashing the Slush Fund – TWICE

The president has called on Congress to do many controversial things. However, House Democrats didn’t raise any red flags when the president urged Congress to adopt his so-called American Jobs Act, a proposal that included a $3.5 billion cut to the president’s own Prevention and Public Health Fund. Perhaps House Democrats took the president at his word when he declared:

“There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation.”

Six months later, President Obama introduced his Fiscal Year 2013 budget request. Even in a budget that adds $11 trillion to the national debt, the president’s still demands a $4 billion cut to the ObamaCare slush fund.

The Slush Fund Abuses Taxpayer Dollars

The ObamaCare slush fund has a consistent record of wasting taxpayer dollars and even engaging in potentially unlawful activity. Here are some examples of how the Obama administration has been using the fund to squander taxpayer resources:   

• A public clinic in Nashville, Tennessee used the money to offer free preventive services to dog and cats, not women and children.
     
• $3 million went to lobby lawmakers in New York for legislation requiring chain restaurants to publicly post the amount of calories they serve.
    
• $7 million was used to urge Alabama lawmakers to raise tobacco taxes on working families.
    
• $16 million was allocated to help secure a ban on new fast food restaurants around Los Angeles.

Such waste has become so prevalent the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is investigating how these funds are being spent.

A Host of Other Government Programs Offer Preventive Services

At a hearing convened yesterday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was forced to admit services outside the Prevention and Public Health Fund remain available to individuals who seek preventive care, such as:

• Cancer prevention and care, including breast and cervical cancer screenings;
   
• Screenings for birth defects and developmental disabilities;
   
• Tobacco prevention at the Center for Disease Control; and
   
• Efforts that promote healthy nutrition and physical activity to prevent obesity.

To recap, the Republican student loan bill will:

• Stop the interest rate on subsidized Stafford Loans from doubling;
    
• Pay for student loan relief by cutting funding to an ObamaCare slush fund;
   
• End an abuse of taxpayer dollars and reduce the federal deficit; and
    
• Allow existing preventive and health services to continue.

What exactly is so grotesque about that? It seems Democrats in Washington will find any excuse to pick a political fight and protect ObamaCare, even if it means raising interest rates on America’s struggling college graduates.

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U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today vowed to continue a controversial “demonstration project” that has come under fire recently by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The Democrats’ 2010 health care law cut $200 billion from Medicare Advantage, a program that currently serves 12 million seniors. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cuts will result in 5 million fewer seniors participating in the popular program. The GAO recently  criticized an $8 billion national demonstration project run by the administration that may have been intended to mask the impact of these cuts until 2013. The GAO reports the design of this project “precludes a credible evaluation of its effectiveness.”

The GAO has called on HHS to cancel this unprecedented multi-billion dollar program. However, when asked by Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) if the administration would follow the GAO’s recommendation, Secretary Sebelius stated she has “no intention of canceling the project."

Click below to view the exchange between Chairman Kline and Secretary Sebelius:
   
                 

In his Fiscal Year 2013 budget, President Obama requests $932 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, one of the largest allocations for any federal agency. Nearly $70 billion of this request is dedicated to various social services programs, including Head Start and Community Services Block Grants. 

While they support families nationwide, such programs are also vulnerable to waste and abuse of taxpayer resources. For example, a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office revealed fraud in the Head Start program, including misleading taxpayers about the number of children enrolled to inflate the amount of federal funds received. Despite a lengthy delay, I am pleased the administration finally took steps to implement a 2007 law to strengthen Head Start and protect taxpayer dollars by requiring the lowest performing programs to re-compete for funding. I hope the department will continue to improve the accountability of this and other social services programs within its jurisdiction.

While these programs and policies will be a part of the discussion, health care is undoubtedly at the forefront of the minds of many here today. It is an issue continually raised by our constituents and inextricably linked to the strength of our economy. Congress continues to closely examine the 2010 health care law and its unprecedented regulatory process. What we have learned is deeply troubling.

First, we have learned the law will fall far short of the president’s promise to lower health care costs. By any basic standard – whether the premiums families and employers pay or the costs leveraged on taxpayers to finance government programs – health care costs are going up. The average cost of a family health insurance plan increased 9 percent just last year. Charles Blahous, a public trustee of Medicare and Social Security, recently stripped away the budget gimmicks to reveal the law will add as much as $527 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. 

Patti-Ann Kanterman, chief financial officer of a family-owned business in Pennsylvania recently told this committee exactly what the law did not do: “It did not reduce the cost of insurance; it did not reduce uncertainty of offering insurance.” It is worthwhile to note the president’s budget requests a $111 billion increase for health insurance subsidies, perhaps an implicit recognition costs are accelerating faster than even he imagined.

We have also learned the law has made it more difficult to hire new workers. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the law will cut 800,000 jobs from the nation’s workforce. This reflects the concerns raised by employers like Gail Johnson, president of a small business that offers early childhood education to families in Virginia. Ms. Johnson told the committee the 2010 law will “slow or stall the growth of small and midsized businesses as [they] struggle to absorb its new costs.”

Finally, we learned the president’s pledge to the American people that they could keep their current health care plan was nothing more than empty rhetoric. The administration has made it virtually impossible for employers to maintain their grandfathered exemption, which means employers must choose between losing the ability to manage coverage on behalf of their workers or complying with the law’s myriad requirements as costs skyrocket. 

The consequences of this health care law extend beyond an employer’s bottom line; they have consequences for workers as well. Brett Parker with Bowlmor Lanes in New York City has testified his kitchen staff will have to accept part-time hours due to the law’s employer mandate. Other workers confront similar changes including lower wages and loss of coverage as employers grapple with the law’s regulations and mandates. Pennsylvania employer Will Knetch echoed the concerns of many when he said the law “provides so many unknowns for the business community; it is scary.”

With 13 million searching for work, our nation simply cannot afford policies that create uncertainty and fear. Folks like Gail Johnson, Brett Parker, Patti-Ann Kanterman - these are America’s job creators, and their personal experiences reveal the difficult reality now facing countless employers and workers. 

Madam Secretary, we realize your job is to administer federal law to the best of your ability. However, Congress also has a responsibility to protect the best interests of the American people. Toward that end, we will continue to conduct aggressive oversight of the law and the related regulatory actions taken by the administration.

As such, effective oversight requires the timely cooperation of the administration. It was disappointing to receive just last week answers to questions this committee asked 10 months ago. Adding insult to injury, the responses you provided are out of date and largely irrelevant to the current debate. If it takes this long for the federal bureaucracy to answer basic questions, it’s hard to believe it can effectively run our nation's health care system.

I hope you can provide an explanation for the delay and commit to doing better in the future. 

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will testify before the House Education and the Workforce Committee today on President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget proposal. While the committee will examine a number of social services programs administered by HHS, members will also have an opportunity to address their continuing concerns about the 2010 government takeover of health care. Committee Republicans will highlight four critical ObamaCare facts that are creating problems for American families, employers, and workers.

Fact #1 - Costs Are Going Up

Whether you buy health insurance, pay taxes, or both – it is painfully obvious health care costs are going up. Despite promising to lower costs, the president’s failed health care policies have left families, workers, and taxpayers on the hook for bigger bills:

• The Kaiser Family Foundation reports the cost of a family health care plan spiked 9 percent just last year, a dramatic increase that pushes the average family’s health care expenses to more than $15,000 a year;
    
• An analysis by Charles Blahous, a public trustee of Medicare and Social Security, removed ObamaCare’s budget gimmicks and revealed the law could lead to $527 billion in deficit spending over the next decade;
    
• The president’s budget asks taxpayers for roughly $1 billion to implement ObamaCare and an additional $111 billion to finance the law’s various “health insurance subsidies.”

It seems a government takeover of health care is far more expensive than the administration let on. As one Pennsylvania employer said of ObamaCare: “It did not reduce the cost of insurance. It did not reduce the uncertainty of offering insurance.”

Fact #2 - Jobs Will Be Destroyed

The most recent employment report showed a troubling slowdown in hiring by America’s employers.  ObamaCare’s crushing mandates stand in the way of an employer’s ability to grow his or her business and create new jobs, and, as a result, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the law will lead to 800,000 fewer jobs by 2021. Widespread fears of the law’s impact on job growth have been confirmed by job creators:

• Gail Johnson, president of Rainbow Station in Glen Allen, VA: “Complying with the requirements of the new law will force entrepreneurs to invest less into growing their business….the new health care reform law will slow or stall the growth of small and midsized businesses as we struggle to absorb its new costs."
    
• Mark Messmer, co-owner of Messmer Mechanical in Jasper, IN: "The requirement for employers with over 50 employees to insure part time and seasonal workers provides strong disincentives toward job creation… It will be almost impossible for an entrepreneur to start a new business and hire."
     
• Denis Johnson, vice president of Boston Scientific in Spencer, IN: "The new health law imposed a 2.3% excise tax on most types of medical devices… Such a severe increase in tax liability will undoubtedly force us to cut critical R&D funding and inhibit job creation and retention."

Fact # 3 –  Millions Risk Losing their Health Insurance

The American people were told time and again: “If you like your current health care, you can keep it.”  The lynchpin of this promise was a provision in ObamaCare that “grandfathered” or exempted existing health insurance plans from the law’s onerous rules and mandates. However, just months after the bill was signed into law, the Obama administration essentially regulated this protection out of existence.

Obama bureaucrats now concede millions of Americans face “significant changes” to their health insurance plan. As a result, employers are facing difficult choices that may include dropping health care coverage entirely:

• CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation have estimated ObamaCare will result in three to five million fewer people obtaining health care through their employer;
     
• A 2011 survey of 1,300 employers discovered that roughly one out of every three employers “will definitely or probably stop” offering health insurance.
     
• Even the left-leaning Urban Institute has suggested that “droves of employees—potentially tens of millions—are likely to shift out of employer-provided insurance over the next decade or two.”

Fact # 4 - Most Small Businesses Find No Relief

Even though President Obama has recognized small businesses as the “backbone” of our economy, his health care law hits small employers the hardest. The National Federation of Independent Business reports the employer mandate will destroy up to 249,000 jobs, with small businesses bearing 59 percent of the burden. And any relief the administration promised is temporary and only available to 5 percent of small business owners. As one witness testified before Congress:

• “The full value of the tax credit applies to only a small number of small businesses under very specific circumstances—and [it is] temporary, so costs will rise again once the credits expire."

Today’s hearing provides a good opportunity for the administration to face the facts: ObamaCare is raising costs, destroying jobs, hurting small businesses, and undermining the health care of millions of Americans. It is time to accept reality and move our country in a better direction.

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U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement after Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) introduced the Interest Rate Reduction Act (H.R. 4628), legislation that provides a one-year extension of the 3.4 percent subsidized Stafford Loan interest rate paid for by rolling back wasteful government spending:

“No one wants to see interest rates on federal subsidized Stafford Loans double in a few short months. Unfortunately, both President Obama and his Democrat allies in Congress have failed to put forward a responsible plan that can extend current rates without raising taxes or adding to the deficit. Once again, Democrats have demonstrated a failure of leadership by favoring short-term political gain over responsible long-term solutions.

“The legislation introduced today by my Republican colleague will remove the threat of the Democrats’ student loan interest rate hike. Rather than imposing new tax hikes on small businesses, the House Republican proposal will roll back wasteful spending in ObamaCare to help student borrowers without piling debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren. While this is not a perfect solution, it will enable Congress to develop the long-term solution borrowers and taxpayers deserve. It is time for Democrats in Washington to stop focusing on the next election and start addressing the serious challenges facing the nation.”

Earlier today, Chairman Kline joined House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) at a press conference to announce the House will soon vote on the Biggert legislation. To view a video of the press conference, click here.

To view the bill text, click here. 

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After delivering speeches at the University of North Carolina and the University of Colorado yesterday, President Obama heads to the University of Iowa today to rally the youth vote and promote his proposal to enact a one-year freeze on Stafford Loan interest rates.

Missing from the speeches and politicking is the fact that the president’s disastrous economic policies have left 1 out of every 2 college graduates struggling to find work, according to a recent AP report:

The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs — waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example — and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

The report also states, “Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor's degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.”

Despite the president’s strong efforts to garner support from college students, the tough job market has dampened some students’ enthusiasm.

University of Colorado student Katy Day, who attended the president’s Tuesday speech in Boulder, told the Washington Post, “I’m kind of ambivalent and apathetic about [the president] coming today. Because not a lot has changed that affects me directly.” Ms. Day also reports her boyfriend has had “zero job opportunities” since graduating last December.  

Kelsey Boehm, student at the University of Iowa, echoed these concerns on behalf of her classmates. “During the campaign, we were inspired by Obama’s words but, for three years, we’ve been hurt by his actions. In the Obama economy, jobs for college graduates are hard to find,” Boehm said. “Too many are delaying their future because they can’t find that first job out of college. We are moving back in with our parents or working a minimum wage job — or both (if we’re lucky).”

Meanwhile, students at the University of North Carolina also expressed cynicism about the president’s visit, stating their excitement has “fizzled.”

Former University of Colorado president Hank Brown told the Denver Post that President Obama has earned a grade of F when it comes to helping college students, noting, “He failed them because we have the highest level of unemployment for youth in this country in recorded history.”

The president’s record of bad policies has led to a stagnant economy and high unemployment for college graduates – and no number of stump speeches can convince the American people otherwise.  While President Obama continues his college tour, House Republicans are advancing policies that will help rebuild our economy and create certainty for students, taxpayers, and job creators.

U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement today after Senate Democrats defeated a resolution that would have blocked changes to long-standing rules governing union elections that were recently approved by the National Labor Relations Board: 

“By giving the green light to the NLRB's ambush election scheme, Senate Democrats have undermined the workplace rights of workers and employers. The Obama board is determined to pursue radical regulatory changes that would restrict  employers’ free speech and workers’ free choice. The board’s proposal would also jeopardize worker privacy, forcing workers to surrender a wealth of personal information to union bosses. There is no end to the NLRB's anti-worker agenda and it appears there is no end to the Democrats’ allegiance to Big Labor.

“I commend those in the Senate who voted to protect the nation’s workers and employers. As the NLRB continues to promote a culture of union favoritism that undermines the strength of the American workforce, House Republicans are committed to holding the Obama board accountable for its job-destroying agenda.”  

In November, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 3094), legislation that would rein in the National Labor Relations Board’s activist agenda and set in law protections workers and employers have long enjoyed. The bill awaits consideration in the Senate, along with more than 25 other House-passed bills in the House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators.  

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House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) and House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Phil Roe (R-TN) this week joined Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) and Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety Ranking Member Johnny Isakson (R-GA) in filing an amicus brief challenging the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) micro-union decision. Senators Enzi and Isakson, along with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), previously filed a brief when the case was before the Board in December, 2010.

On August 26, 2011, the NLRB issued its decision in the Specialty Healthcare case. While the case concerned which group of employees at one health care facility would vote in a union election, the Obama board decided to discard long-standing labor policy in order to impose sweeping changes on America’s workplaces.

Under the board’s ruling, union leaders are empowered to establish so-called micro-unions nationwide. The decision makes it virtually impossible to challenge the unit of employees chosen by the union. As a result of this dramatic shift in labor policy, the nation’s workforce will experience greater division and discord that will raise an employer’s labor costs and undermine an employee’s freedom in the workplace.

As the Republican leaders state in their amicus brief:

“The Board’s authority in this area was defined by statute. When the Board creates policy that conflicts with that statute, or circumvents the legislative process, the Amici, as Members of Congress, feel they have a duty to preserve the legislative decisions that went into the statute’s creation. The [members of Congress] also believe such a major change in the law as the elimination of Section 9(c)(5) should only be made through an amendment of the statute, which is the exclusive province of Congress… Congress did not grant the Board  authority to rely upon the extent of employee organizing as the basis for determining whether a unit is appropriate for collective bargaining.”

On November 30, 2011, the House of Representatives passed with bipartisan support legislation that would reverse the NLRB’s job-destroying Specialty Healthcare decision. The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 3094) restores the traditional standard for determining which employees will vote in the union election, reinstating a standard that was developed through years of careful consideration and Congressional guidance.

The legal brief was filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in the case entitled, Kindred Nursing Centers East vs. National Labor Relations Board.

The amicus brief can be viewed here.

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U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement today after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia prevented the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from enforcing its poster regulation:

"At a time when employers are struggling to grow their businesses and create jobs, the last thing they need is an unlawful mandate that fosters unnecessary confusion and conflict in the workplace. The NLRB does not have the authority to force employers to post a biased notice of employee ‘rights.' Two federal judges have now issued decisions that will help rein in the NLRB’s activist agenda and roll back this misguided regulatory scheme. As this legal battle moves forward, President Obama should take action to help end the uncertainty facing millions of employers by urging his labor board to withdraw this flawed regulation.”  

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The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), today held a hearing on the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 4297). The legislation would strengthen job training and employment services for workers and employers.

During his opening remarks, Chairman Kline said, “The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 embodies the smart, responsible reforms that are critical in a modern job training system. The bill consolidates 27 programs into one flexible Workforce Investment Fund. If a governor can present a responsible plan to consolidate additional job training programs, he or she is welcome to do so. This will allow us to move closer toward the president’s goal of one program and provide more efficient employment and training services to workers. The legislation also rolls back unnecessary rules and strengthens the role of job creators in workforce training decisions… and ensures accountability without burying state and local officials in reams of paperwork.”

At today’s hearing, leaders in our workforce development system highlighted how reforms included in H.R. 4297 will improve critical support for America’s workers:

Engaging the nation’s job creators

A successful network of employment assistance and training programs must be driven by job creators. The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 ensures two-thirds of workforce investment board members are employers and encourages more proactive engagement with area businesses.

“We also support a reduction in the size of the workforce investment boards, which we believe will help to attract higher caliber private sector board members. For boards to have the greatest productivity and creativity with participation by all members, boards must be manageable in size. We appreciate H.R. 4297 strengthening the business engagement in state and local workforce decisions.” – Laurie Moran, Chair, National Association of Workforce Boards

Streamlining services and strengthening local decision-making

Workforce investment boards are responsible for policymaking and oversight of job training assistance provided at the state and local level, yet the federal government dictates the size and membership of the boards. H.R. 4297 grants state and local officials the authority to fill the remaining slots of the boards, thereby ensuring the board members reflect the priorities of local communities.

“I commend the Committee’s proposal to consolidate and streamline the delivery and funding of state workforce development programs. Today, the number of workforce programs provides an inefficient framework that is simply too complex for workers and businesses to rely upon… If there was ever a time for a ‘must pass’ piece of legislation, now would be that time to fix America’s workforce system and get America back to work. The Workforce Investment Improvement Act [H.R. 4297], like its predecessor, is in fact the only federal legislation that provides a formal mechanism to put all of the players at the table…" – Norma Noble, Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Workforce Development, Workforce Solutions, Oklahoma City, OK

Providing training for jobs in demand

Employers continue to experience difficulty hiring a skilled workforce, even though roughly 13 million Americans are searching for work. H.R. 4297 requires a regular analysis of the local workforce needs to help identify any skills gaps that may exist between employers and job seekers, and eliminates barriers in existing law that could prevent individuals from receiving immediate job training assistance.

“We support the tenets of improving services through On-the-Job Training, training for those who need it the most within our communities, and contracting with community colleges and institutions of higher learning to provide specialized group training that is designed for businesses looking to hire individuals with specific skills. These initiatives under H.R. 4297 will ensure that customers are trained in necessary skills to match jobs available with business.” – Sandy Harmsen, Director, San Bernardino County Department of Workforce Development, San Bernardino, CA

Promoting better accountability

Despite administering dozens of job training programs, the federal government has only evaluated five programs to determine whether they are effectively helping workers gain new skills and find employment. The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 outlines a common set of performance measures for all programs and requires the U.S. Department of Labor to conduct an evaluation of its programs every five years.

“National Skills Coalition appreciates and supports the increased attention to accountability and performance measures under HR 4297. The bill makes a number of important improvements to the current performance and accountability system, including the implementation of common performance measures across WIA core programs. The inclusion of a new credential measure, and a measure of progress toward a credential that potentially encourages longer-term training critical for low-skilled workers, are important improvements of current law, as is the required state adjusted level of performance for each of the core indicators.” – Andy Van Kleunen, Executive Director, National Skills Coalition

The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 reflects Republicans’ commitment to advancing policies that provide America’s workers with the skills they need to succeed in today’s workforce.

To read witness testimony, opening statements, or watch an archived webcast of today’s hearing, visit www.edworkforce.house.gov/hearings.

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Today, we will examine H.R. 4297, the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012. The legislation will provide a more dynamic, effective, and accountable workforce development system. I would like to thank our witnesses for being with us. I also want to extend my appreciation to Representatives Virginia Foxx, Buck McKeon, and Joe Heck for their continued leadership on this important issue.

The committee has spent over a year examining the nation’s workforce development system. We held four hearings and listened as more than a dozen witnesses described the successes and weaknesses in a system designed to provide job training and employment assistance for America’s workers.

Through these hearings, we have learned an expansive network of competing programs operated by numerous federal agencies is failing to meet the needs of our workforce. Despite an effort to establish a unified workforce development system 14 years ago, employers and state and local leaders still grapple with a bureaucracy that squanders taxpayer resources, stifles innovation, and stands in the way of the help and training workers need.

The problems within the current system are staggering. Each program has a separate set of rules, reporting requirements, and performance measures. Local leaders operate under 19 federal mandates that dictate who can serve on a workforce investment board. Even if it’s in their best interest, workers can be denied immediate access to job training assistance. And even though thousands of One Stop Career Centers are spread across the country, some services are located in places chosen during the 1970s that are inconvenient – if not completely inaccessible for today’s workers.

These systemic flaws help explain why 3.5 million jobs are unfilled, despite the roughly 13 million Americans still searching for work. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently issued a news report entitled, “Manufacturing jobs available but skills rare, exec says.” Similar reports have appeared in places like Macon, Georgia; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Workers are needed in fields from truck driving to software development to nursing, but employers face a serious lack of skilled applicants.

We are spending taxpayer dollars on red tape and bureaucracy, instead of the skills and training workers need to succeed. During his State of the Union address, President Obama recognized the need to “cut through the maze of confusing programs” and expressed his desire for one program for unemployed workers. Yet still we see plans for more programs and hear calls to defend a fundamentally broken system. Simply doubling down on the status quo ignores the problems at hand and is a disservice to workers, employers, and taxpayers.

The recent slowdown in hiring reflected in this month’s jobs report demonstrates how urgently we need to move in a new direction. The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 embodies the smart, responsible reforms that are critical in a modern job training system. The bill consolidates 27 programs into one flexible Workforce Investment Fund. If a governor can present a responsible plan to consolidate additional job training programs, he or she is welcome to do so. This will allow us to move closer toward the president’s goal of one program and provide more efficient employment and training services to workers.

The legislation also rolls back unnecessary rules and strengthens the role of job creators in workforce training decisions. H.R. 4297 requires two-thirds of workforce investment board members be employers, helping ensure the skills and training offered to workers matches the needs of businesses. The bill grants state and local officials authority over filling the remaining slots on the board. If individuals from labor unions, community colleges, and youth organizations offer the best voice to represent the local workforce, they can have a seat at the table.

Furthermore, the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 ensures accountability without burying state and local officials in reams of paperwork. Under the bill, states would be required to adopt a common set of performance measures to judge the success of all programs, and the Department of Labor would be required to conduct an independent evaluation of its programs every five years. Workers will learn whether these programs are effective and taxpayers will know whether their money is being well spent.

There are other positive reforms in the legislation, such as providing dedicated funds to assist at-risk youth and individuals facing difficult barriers to employment. No doubt other issues will be raised throughout the hearing. I expect we will also address a proposal introduced by my Democrat colleagues, one that offers their priorities for reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act. Both sides recognize the challenges plaguing the current system and the need for improvement. Ultimately, we have a responsibility to advance reforms that will help Americans receive the skills and training they need to get back to work.

On Wednesday, April 18th, at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), will hold a hearing entitled, “Reviewing the Impact of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ Regulatory and Enforcement Actions.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  
                                                                               
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is responsible for ensuring federal contractors follow federal nondiscrimination hiring requirements. In recent years, OFCCP has advanced significant changes to its regulatory and enforcement policies that could create additional costs and challenges for employers and workers. The agency is currently developing five regulatory proposals that may lead to even greater administrative burdens on employers. For example, two such proposals would require employers to provide a “statement of reasons” that explains why certain workers were not extended an employment opportunity. Additionally, OFCCP has sought to expand its jurisdiction to certain health care providers, challenging their ability to deliver affordable health care to seniors and veterans.

Wednesday’s hearing will provide members an opportunity to discuss the consequences workers and employers may face as a result of OFCCP’s regulatory and enforcement actions. To learn more about this hearing, visit www.edworkforce.house.gov/hearings.

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On Tuesday, April 17 at 10:00 a.m., the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), will hold a legislative hearing on the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 4297). The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 3.5 million job openings nationwide. Even though 12.7 million individuals are searching for work, employers continue to experience difficulties finding a skilled workforce. The nation’s broken network of job training programs is not providing workers the skills necessary to fill the demands of employers.

Since the start of the 112th Congress, the House Education and the Workforce Committee has held a series of hearings to examine the challenges facing the workforce investment system. In response, Representatives Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) and Joe Heck (R-NV) introduced the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 4297) to strengthen job training and employment assistance for workers and reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. 

Among the policy reforms included in H.R. 4297, the legislation will consolidate 27 redundant and ineffective programs into one flexible Workforce Investment Fund, eliminate 19 federal mandates dictating who can serve on local workforce investment boards, and require the Department of Labor to conduct an independent evaluation of its programs every five years.

Tuesday’s legislative hearing will provide will members an opportunity to discuss and gather expert feedback on the legislation.

To learn more about this hearing, visit www.edworkforce.house.gov/hearings. To learn more about the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012, click here.

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WITNESS LIST

Ms. Norma Noble
Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Workforce Development
WorkForce Solutions
Oklahoma City, OK

Ms. Laurie Moran
President
Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce
Blairs, VA

Mr. Andy Van Kleunen
Executive Director
National Skills Coalition
Washington, D.C.

Ms. Sandy Harmsen
Director
San Bernardino County Department of Workforce Development
San Bernardino, CA

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) provides disadvantaged students in the nation’s capital the financial support and opportunity to access a better education. Since its inception in 2004, the program has rescued thousands of students from one of the most troubled public school systems in the nation.  

Despite signing into law last spring bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the D.C. OSP for five years, President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget zeroes out funding for the program. Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) recently joined House and Senate leaders in demanding additional information on the president’s decision to eliminate D.C. OSP funding, as well as an evaluation of the program’s success.

An editorial in today’s Washington Post aptly describes the potential consequences of slashing support for this invaluable program:

When President Obama reached a deal with Congress last year to reauthorize for five years the District’s program of federally funded school vouchers, families in the program and those who hoped to participate breathed easier. Tired of the political gamesmanship that annually threatened a program offering low-income children the chance of a better education, they welcomed the certainty. They may have celebrated too soon.

Mr. Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget requests zero funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which allows children from low-income D.C. families to attend private schools with federal vouchers of up to $12,000 annually. It has proved popular and successful. More than 10,000 families have sought to participate since the program’s start in 2004, and polls show a majority of D.C. residents favor it. But teachers unions oppose it and, with the help of obliging Democrats, have tried — unrelentingly — to kill the program.

The administration argues that there is sufficient money to take care of currently enrolled students through the 2013-2014 school year and to allow new awards through attrition. But, as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) pointed out in a March 22 letter to the president, such tortured logic runs counter to the law. The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act, part of the larger budget deal reached last year to avert a government shutdown, authorized annual appropriations of $60 million for five successive years, to be allocated equally among the voucher program, the D.C. public school system and public charter schools. This three-sector approach recognizes the importance of parents having choices for their children as public school reform continues.

The administration’s action — which includes a bizarre provision prohibiting students who are unsuccessful in the lottery that allocates spaces in the program from reapplying the following year — would effectively place an arbitrary limit on the number of children able to enjoy the program’s benefits. Why cap the number at the 1,615 students currently enrolled when the program has accommodated larger numbers (1,903 in 2007-08, for example)? Does the administration really want to send the message — much like the one delivered in 2009 when Democrats tried to kill the vouchers — that there is not much of a future for the program?

Surely, it shouldn’t be among the president’s priorities to single out for attack a tiny federal program that not only works — in the judgment of federal evaluators — but also enjoys bipartisan support. If it is, we trust that Mr. Boehner would step in, as he did last year, to save a program that D.C.’s poorest families value for their children.           

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Just moments before President Obama signed into law his government takeover of health care, he promised: 

“This legislation will also lower costs… for the federal government, reducing our deficit by over $1 trillion in the next two decades. It is paid for. It is fiscally responsible.” 

Not so says a new report released this morning by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. According to an analysis by Charles Blahous, public trustee for Medicare and Social Security, the reality of ObamaCare is it will add to the federal deficit, not reduce it. As the findings of the study make disturbingly clear, the president’s health care law: 

• Adds between $346 and $527 billion to the federal deficit over the next ten years;
   
• Leads to an estimated $1.16 to $1.24 trillion in new government spending during the same ten year window; and   
    
• Exacerbates federal deficits and “increases a federal commitment to health care spending that was already unsustainable.” 

Mr. Blahous’ analysis presents an ominous warning that the health care law has “unambiguously worsened the federal government’s fiscal position.” This is the latest reminder of the president’s many broken health care promises. 

At a time when Washington D.C. is already running trillion dollar deficits, today’s report confirms ObamaCare is a government takeover that America’s taxpayers and future generations cannot afford.

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U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor released employment data for March:

“Another month of positive job gains is welcome news for the nation’s workers. This encouraging progress shows that despite the administration’s damaging tax-and-spend agenda, employers are determined to grow their businesses and invest in our economy. However, leaders in Washington must do more to ensure we have a skilled workforce that can meet the demands of America’s employers.

“More than a decade ago, Congress established a national workforce investment system to provide individuals with the skills and training they need to succeed in the workplace. Regrettably, the system has corroded over the years, shifting from a helpful network of employment support to what President Obama has dubbed ‘a confusing maze of bureaucracy’ that serves neither worker nor employer well.

“House Education and the Workforce Committee Republicans recently introduced the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 4297), legislation that will revamp and enhance the nation’s job training system. By streamlining dozens of ineffective programs, strengthening the role of employers in workforce development decisions, and delivering more accountability over the use of taxpayer dollars, this commonsense proposal will help put more Americans back to work. The committee will take action to reform job training in the coming weeks, and I hope the president and our Democrat colleagues will lend their support on behalf of workers and employers.”

To learn more about the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012, click here.

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U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement on the two year anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mining disaster:

“Two years ago, the people of Montcoal, West Virginia suffered a horrific loss as the worst mining disaster in four decades took the lives of 29 men. It was an unthinkable tragedy that should never have happened. Massey Energy put profit before safety, while federal safety officials failed to hold this reckless operator accountable. Mine operators have a legal and moral responsibility to make safety the top priority, and enforcement officials have a duty to enforce the law. As a nation, we mourn the men who died, keep their families in our prayers, and continue the work that is needed to ensure this kind of catastrophe never happens again.”                                                                                            

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce recently held a hearing entitled, "Learning from the Upper Big Branch Tragedy." To learn more about this hearing, watch an archived webcast, or read witness testimony, click here.

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