News
Can Legislation Knock Down Job Barriers? It Depends Who You Ask (Corrected)
by Jaclyn Diaz
05.28.19 (Paraphrases comments in paragraph eight that were originally directly attributed to Rep. Foxx.) Older workers and those with disabilities continue to face pervasive obstacles to steady and well-paying jobs, advocates told lawmakers May 21, but Congress still isn't on the same page about how to remove those barriers. A May 21 House Education and Labor Committee hearing highlighted key policy differences between Democrats and Republicans that are likely to slow proposals to boost wages and … Continue Reading
Scott laments failed infrastructure meeting while schools are in 'desperate' need
by Nicole Gaudiano
05.23.19 House Education Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) called it "disappointing" that President Donald Trump abandoned a meeting with congressional leaders that Scott said could have brought Congress closer to an infrastructure package including school improvements. "America's public schools are in desperate need of repair," Scott said in a statement to POLITICO. "We remain committed to delivering on the promise of jobs and safer school buildings for communities across the country." Improving scho… Continue Reading
If you don’t know what the historic Brown v. Board ruling is but know you should, watch this 6-minute video
by Valerie Strauss
05.23.19 Maybe you don't know exactly what the Supreme Court's historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling is, but you've heard about it often enough to know that you should. Watch the video below. It will take only six minutes. This month marks the 65th anniversary of the ruling, in which the justices declared that segregated public schools were "inherently unequal" and unconstitutional. The decision blew up an 1896 ruling that permitted "whites-only" and "Negroes-only" schools, and orde… Continue Reading
House Committee Debates A Legislative 'Fix' That Would Make It Easier To Prove Age Discrimination
by Patricia Barnes
05.22.19 In the past decade, the same proposed law has been repeatedly re-introduced in the U.S. Congress to make it easier for victims of age discrimination to sue discriminatory employers. Every year that proposed law, Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA), dies an ignominious death. Will this year be different? The U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor at a hearing Tuesday discussed, among other things, the need to adopt POWADA to fix a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision … Continue Reading
Missing Obamacare Data Draws House Democrats’ Scrutiny
by Madison Alder
05.22.19 The Labor Department's failure to collect transparency data from employer plans as required under the Affordable Care Act drew the ire of two House Democrats who say that information could be used to protect consumers. That missing data makes it more difficult for federal enforcement efforts and puts at a disadvantage the more than 150 million Americans in employer-sponsored plans, Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) said in a May 22 letter to Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. Sc… Continue Reading
Prominent Dems Introduce Bill Banning Forced Arbitration
by Mark Gruenberg
05.22.19 Prominent congressional Democrats, including chair of the relevant House committee and eight presidential hopefuls, want to negate the Supreme Court's ruling that mandates company-friendly forced arbitration that overrides workers' rights. The Restoring Justice For Workers Act, unveiled by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., would reverse the High Court majority's decision last … Continue Reading
NAMM Honors Chairman Robert C. Scott with the SupportMusic Champion Award
by Staff
05.21.19 Earlier this evening, The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation honored Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), Committee on Education and Labor, with the organization's SupportMusic Champion Award. The award was presented in recognition of the Chairman's unwavering commitment to music and the arts and for his role as one of the primary authors and champion of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. The Act reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for the fir… Continue Reading
KARE 11 Investigates: Congress acts on child abuse bill
by Aaron J. Lagoe, Steven Eckert, Laura Geller
05.17.19 Her name was Heaven Watkins. And her tragic death one year ago this week may be leading to changes in the way child protection cases are handled nationwide "By breaking down barriers to information, we can prevent children like Heaven from slipping thru the cracks," said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. Rep. Scott is co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill that calls for the creation of an "Interstate Data Exchange" to share child abuse inform… Continue Reading
House And Senate Democrats Push Pro-Labor Organizing Bill Known As The “PRO Act”
by Staff
05.17.19 Earlier this month, House and Senate Democrats introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act-comprehensive legislation to strengthen protections for workers' right to organize a union and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. As wage inequality continues to leave workers and middle-class families behind, this legislation would empower millions of Americans to stand together and ensure hardworking people are getting their fair share of economic growt… Continue Reading
House Democrats take on school segregation
by Kimberly Hefling
05.16.19 With help from Nicole Gaudiano - One day ahead of the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the House Education and Labor Committee votes on legislation today designed to encourage school desegregation. - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today it's forming a 30-member commission to explore the issue of postsecondary value. - The Education Department's independent research arm is out with a new study that finds D.C.'s voucher program ha… Continue Reading
Moderate Dems look to break logjam on minimum wage boost
by Sarah Ferris
05.15.19 A band of Democratic moderates in the House is working to end a standoff with progressives on legislation to boost the minimum wage - potentially resolving a fight that has stalled one of the party's top priorities. Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-Ariz.) is leading an effort to make tweaks that could help deliver at least a half-dozen moderates onto the $15-an-hour wage bill without losing many on the left. The initial struggle on the measure, a core part of the Democratic agenda, underscores the… Continue Reading
House Hearing Tackles College Affordability
by Sara Friedman
05.15.19 With the rising costs of college, federal and state assistance isn't doing enough to help students and graduates manage their student loan debt. Over the past 25 years, the cost of attending a public four-year college has increased by 81 percent while the median household income has only increased by 12 percent, according to a report released by the House Education and Labor Committee. On March 13, the committee began its process to reauthorize the Higher Education Act with the first of five he… Continue Reading
Shalala: Alexander taking 'more limited' approach to HEA
by Benjamin Wermund
05.14.19 A Democrat on the House Education and Labor Committee said today she believes the top Republican on the Senate panel rewriting the federal higher education law wants to take a "more limited" approach on the law than House Democrats are eyeing. Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) said during an event on student debt hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center that she recently had lunch with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and "I think he wants to do a more limited bill." Alexander has said he wants the Sena… Continue Reading
House Education panel to mark up 2 school desegregation bills
by Kimberly Hefling
05.14.19 The House Education and Labor Committee will mark up a pair of bills on Thursday designed to tackle the growing racial segregation in America's schools, POLITICO has learned. The timing of the markup is symbolic as it will fall one day before the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling that outlawed "separate but equal" schools. The move also showcases how House Democrats plan to address an issue under their leadership that's historically been one of the most … Continue Reading
Virginia Congress members vote to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions
by Erin Patterson
05.10.19 WASHINGTON D.C., DC - U.S. Representatives Elaine Luria, A. Donald McEachin, and Bobby Scott voted to pass the Protecting Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Act of 2019 on Thursday. The legislation would nullify theDepartment of the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services guidance titled "State Relief and Empowerment Waivers." The new Act focuses on the section that allows states to promote insurance plans that do not cover essential benefits. The guidance allows states … Continue Reading
Heaven's Story: After girl's death, her child abuse case is prompting nationwide legislation
by Laura Geller
05.08.19 WASHINGTON -- A Virginia girl's murder is prompting changes on Capitol Hill. Heaven Watkins' killing revealed concerns about the way caseworkers investigate child abuse claims. Wednesday, a U.S. congressional committee unanimously passed legislation to address those challenges. Heaven Watkins lived and died in Virginia, but Wednesday her name and story echoed through the halls of Congress. Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, which is responsible for making … Continue Reading
Brown V. Board Of Education, 65 Years Later
by Richard A. Epstein
05.06.19 The House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on April 30 to address the state of education in the United States sixty-five years after Brown v. Board of Education (1954) put an official end to legal segregation throughout the United States. When Brown came down, there was much uneasiness over whether that powerful assertion of judicial power could be justified by an appeal to what Professor Herbert Wechsler famously called the "neutral principles of constitutional law." Those doubt… Continue Reading
Dreamer delay
by Rebecca Rainey
05.03.19 QUICK FIX - Democrats' plans to hurry the Dream Act along hit a snag. - California's highest court applied the state's strict new employee-misclassification test retroactively. - White male union members may be the key swing vote in 2020. GOOD MORNING! It's Friday, May 3, and this is Morning Shift, your daily tipsheet on labor and immigration news. Send tips, exclusives, and suggestions to rrainey@politico.com, thesson@politico.com, ikullgren@politico.com, and tnoah@politico.… Continue Reading
Brown v. Board of Education: After 65 years, still seeking to make a promise a reality
by Joe Davidson
05.03.19 WASHINGTON - It's a shame to grow old and not achieve a long-sought goal. But circumstances sometimes thwart ambitions. That's the case for the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The seminal civil rights ruling outlawing school segregation - at least in theory - turns 65 on May 17. As can happen when reaching old age, this birthday comes with some disappointment. Equality in education remains more a pledge than reality, in part because of obstructing federal policie… Continue Reading
Labor Secretary Discusses Overtime Rule and Job Programs with Congress
by Lisa Nagele-Piazza
05.03.19 Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta addressed the House Education and Labor Committee on May 1-the first time he'd done so since Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives. He discussed the priorities of the Department of Labor (DOL), which included finalizing a new overtime rule, expanding apprenticeships and introducing the Job Corps Scholars program. Acosta said the department is focused on expanding vocational training and education programs to fill job vacancies. "We are s… Continue Reading