How Democrats Delivered for the American People in the 117th Congress
The American people deserve a government that puts people over politics and protects hard-working families – not billionaires and special interests. That’s why, throughout the 117th Congress, the House Education and Labor Committee has advanced legislation that meets the needs of students, families, workers, and our economy.
Over the last two years, Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration have made historic progress to rescue the American economy, create good paying jobs, get students back on track, fight child hunger, and boost access to health care. Democrats helped:
- Add over 10.5 million jobs to our economy since January 2021,
- Recover 100 percent of the jobs lost during the pandemic,
- Reduce the unemployment rate to historically low levels,
- Save the pensions of over one million workers and protect thousands of businesses,
- Deliver the largest, one-time federal investment in K-12 education in U.S. history, and
- Bring the number of Americans without health insurance down to the lowest level ever.
BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (H.R. 5376)
Took historic steps to reduce the cost of health insurance, lower the cost of prescription drugs, create millions of good-paying jobs, make the most significant investment to address climate change in our history, and dramatically reduce the deficit.
American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319)
Secured urgent relief for students, schools, and child care providers, protected the health of families and communities, and supported America’s workers and retirees. This included the largest, one-time federal investment in K-12 education in U.S. history.
Access to Baby Formula Act (H.R. 7791)
Allowed families in-need to use their WIC benefits to purchase safe and available infant formula product in response to the infant formula shortage.
Keep Kids Fed Act (S. 2089)
Provided children with healthy meals over the summer and will ensure that schools and daycares can respond to supply chain challenges and high food costs for the coming school year.
Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Conciliation Rule (S.J. Res 13)
Repealed a Trump-era rule that undermined workplace civil rights enforcement.
Consider Teachers Act (S. 848)
Fixed a broken system that improperly burdened teachers with loans.
Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act (S. 1098)
Allowed borrowers with uncommunicative or abusive spouses or former spouses to sever joint consolidation loans into two separate federal direct loans.
Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act (S. 3157)
Commissions a study to help the Department of Labor better assist refugees and immigrants in finding a rewarding career.
Improves access to injury and illness benefits for federal firefighters.
21st Century Assistive Technology Act (H.R. 9028)
Provides grants for statewide programs that help disabled people access assistive technology. (Passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023)
Food Donation Improvement Act of 2021 (H.R. 6251)
Expands liability protections to encourage food donations.
Native American Languages Resource Center Act (S. 989)
Creates a national Native American Language Resource Center to protect and promote Native American languages.
Durbin Feelings Native American Languages Act of 2021 (S. 1402)
Directs the president to review federal agencies’ compliance with the Native American Language Act requirements and makes recommendations to improve interagency coordination in support of Native American languages.
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 1065)
Establishes a pregnant worker’s clear-cut right to reasonable workplace accommodations, provided they do not impose an undue burden on their employer.
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers (H.R. 3110)
Expands and strengthens workplace protections for nursing mothers so they have the time and privacy to pump at work.
Securing a Strong Retirement Act (H.R. 2954)
Makes bipartisan and commonsense improvements to ensure that the retirement system better serves workers, retirees, and employers. *Incorporates the Committee's Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement Act (H.R. 5891).
BILLS PASSED BY THE HOUSE
National Apprenticeship Act (H.R. 447)
Creates nearly one million new Registered Apprenticeship, youth apprenticeship, and pre-apprenticeship positions to help workers access in-demand jobs across a wide range of industries.
Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (H.R. 485)
Addresses the recent rise in child abuse and neglect by funding networks of prevention services that are designed to strengthen families and improve the quality of child protective services.
Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7)
Addresses pay inequity by holding companies accountable for gender-based wage disparities, strengthening the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and protecting the rights of workers to challenge systemic pay discrimination.
Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 842)
Protects workers' right to organize and bargain for higher pay, better benefits, and safer working conditions.
Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (H.R. 2062)
Restores legal protections for older workers so they can hold employers accountable for age discrimination.
Protect Older Job Applicants Act (H.R. 3992)
Clarifies that older job applicants are protected from age discrimination under federal law.
Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1195)
Provides health and social service workers with the workplace protections they deserve.
Family Violence Prevention Services Improvement Act (H.R. 2119)
Refocuses and enhances federal investments to prevent intimate partner violence and support survivors.
Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022 (H.R. 5129)
Strengthens the Community Services Block Grant program to help local organizations reduce poverty in their communities.
Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act (H.R. 6087)
Expands federal employees’ access to workers’ compensation by restoring their choice of medical provider.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022 (H.R. 7309)
Invests in our workforce development system to meet the needs of workers and businesses, fill job openings with qualified workers, reduce supply chain shortages, and lower costs for families.
Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention through Campus Planning Act (H.R. 5407)
Directs the Department of Education to encourage colleges and universities to develop and implement comprehensive campus mental health programs.
Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act of 2022 (H.R. 6493)
Supports institutions in developing evidence-based prevention and recovery programs that are designed to prevent alcohol and substance misuse.
Mental Health Matters Act (H.R. 7780)
Takes wide-ranging steps to support the behavioral health of children and school staff, strengthen school-based behavioral health care, and ensure access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits for workers and families.
Susan Muffley Act of 2022 (H.R. 6929)
Fully restores Delphi pension plan benefits for thousands of retirees.
Helen Keller National Center Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1433)
Supports the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC)—the only comprehensive national program that provides information, referrals, support, and training exclusively to Americans who have combined vision and hearing loss.
ADDITIONAL BILLS ADVANCED OUT OF COMMITTEE
Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act (H.R. 730)
Restores the right of students and parents to hold schools accountable for discrimination in education.
Strength in Diversity Act (H.R. 729)
Supports districts in developing, implementing, or expanding voluntary initiatives to increase diversity in schools.
Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2022 (H.R. 6102)
Helps disabled miners overcome barriers to the compensation and benefits for black lung disease that they are entitled to receive. *Included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
School Shooting and Safety Preparedness Act (H.R. 5428)
Lays the groundwork necessary to provide uniform data on school shootings to policymakers and the public, allowing them to better measure the impact of policy solutions on the state and federal level.
Longshore and Harbor Workers' COVID-19 Compensation Act of 2022 (H.R. 3114)
Makes it easier for maritime workers who were diagnosed with COVID-19 to access the workers’ compensation they deserve.
Rebuild America's Schools Act (H.R. 604)
Invests in high-poverty schools with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff, creates over 2 million construction jobs, and expands schools’ access to high-speed broadband.
Protecting America's Retirement Security Act (H.R. 7310)
Makes commonsense improvements to the retirement system to protect workers’ retirement savings and support families and employers.
Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act (H.R. 7701)
Ensures a workers’ right to be paid all legally owed wages and holds unscrupulous employers accountable for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act (H.R. 8450)
Helps address and prevent child hunger by delivering a comprehensive, science-driven reauthorization of federal child nutrition programs that meets the needs of children and families.
Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act of 2022 (H.R. 2193)
Helps protect indoor and outdoor workers against occupational exposure to excessive heat by requiring employers to provide paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water, limitations on time exposed to heat, and other life-saving measures.
To view the 117 Congress in Review report, click here.
To view the 117 Congress Commitee Oversight report, click here.