The House Committee on Education and the Workforce met on January 24 to officially organize for the new Congress. This Committee has jurisdiction over a number of ACTE’s legislative priorities, including the forthcoming reauthorizations of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the Higher Education Act.
In the 115th Congress, the Committee will have a new chair, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who succeeds former Rep. John Kline (R-MN), who retired at the end of the last congress. On federal education policy, Chairwoman Foxx recently told EdWeek that she “would love to get the federal government out of education policy altogether,” though she acknowledged that was unrealistic. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) will continue as the Committee’s ranking member.
The committee will now include 23 Republicans and 17 Democrats. Of these, six Republicans and three Democrats are new to the Committee. Many of these new members previously served in their respective state legislatures, with some of them serving on state education committees. Several also have relevant experience directly related to CTE or the workforce. For example, Rep. Rochester (D-DE) is the former Delaware labor secretary; Rep. Mitchell (R-MI) is a former owner/operator of the Ross Medical Education Center, a for-profit institution with both online and campus locations; and Rep. Rooney (R-FL) owns a major construction company. Three additional members are expected to be appointed soon.
The nine new members of the Committee, so far, are:
- Drew Ferguson (R-GA)
- Tom Garrett (R-VA)
- Jason Lewis (R-MN)
- Paul Mitchell (R-MI)
- Francis Rooney (R-FL)
- Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
- Donald Norcross (D-NJ)
- Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
- Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)
During the organizational meeting, the Committee formally approved rules for its operation and an oversight plan, detailing areas of priority for the Committee for the coming Congress. The oversight plan merely provides a general list of topics the Committee may review, not specifics. However, some key themes are evident, such as the desire to roll back Executive Actions of the prior Administration and reduce the regulatory burden. A substitute oversite plan was offered by Committee Democrats but was not approved.
ACTE looks forward to continuing to work closely with the Committee and its newest members as work continues on the reauthorization of Perkins. For a full list of the Committee and more information on subcommittee leadership, see this blog from EdWeek.
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