115th Congress: Education & the Workforce Greatest Hits

Championed Responsible Solutions

  • Raise the Wage Act – a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 by 2024 and give more than 41 million Americans a pay increase.
  • Child Care for Working Families Act – a comprehensive early learning and child care bill to ensure affordable, high-quality child care for working families across the country.
  • Workplace Action for a Growing Economy (WAGE) Act – legislation to strengthen enforcement under the National Labor Relations Act when workers exercise their right to join a union.
  • Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2017 – legislation that highlights the need for bold investment in school infrastructure as a means to achieve greater educational equity, while breathing new life into communities and creating jobs.
  • Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act – a bill to expand and permanently safeguard the Pell Grant program, helping millions of low-income students offset the rising costs of college.
  • Opening Doors for Youth Act of 2017 – legislation to expand employment opportunities for at-risk and opportunity youth and support community efforts to keep youth connected to school and training. 
  • HBCU Capital Financing Improvement Act – a to bill to modify the HBCU Capital Financing Program and authorize the Department of Education to provide financial counseling that prepares an eligible HBCU to qualify for, apply for, and maintain a capital improvement loan.

Fought Against Harmful Rollbacks

  • Gainful Employment and Borrower Defense Rules – the Trump administration has delayed implementation of rules allowing career programs that do not lead to good-paying jobs to continue to market themselves to unsuspecting students, and delayed borrowers from receiving financial relief from student loan debt for which the Department of Education has determined they are not liable.
  • Tip Regulations – the Trump administration proposed a rule that would allow employers to take ownership of workers’ tips as long as the tipped employees are paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
  • Overtime Rule – the Trump administration initiated a plan to rollback a 2016 rule that strengthened overtime protections for millions of full-time, salaried workers when they worked more than 40 hours per week. 
  • Americans' Retirement Security – Republican legislation nullified rules that enabled states and municipalities to expand retirement savings options, and Republicans joined the Trump administration in efforts to delay and weaken the fiduciary rule which requires that financial advisors provide retirement investment advice that’s in the worker’s best interest.
  • Contraceptive Coverage Rules – the Trump administration released new rules allowing virtually any employer or university to deny contraceptive coverage under the guise of moral or religious objections. 

Promoted Democratic Values

  • Aim Higher  – Committee Democrats launched an initiative focused on legislation that would provide all students with access to a meaningful degree that costs less money and leads to a good-paying job.
  • Better Deal  – House and Senate Democrats worked to give Americans the tools they need to thrive and empower families and workers, and to unlock economic growth that will lead to better jobs, better wages, and a better future.

Worked Across the Aisle