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Committee on Education and
the Workforce
U.S. House of Representatives
Accomplishments of the
106th Congress
Status
of Legislation Chart
106th
Congress Activities Report (House
Report 106-1040)
Report on the Activities of the
Committee during the 106th Congress
EDUCATION
 Education
Flexibility Act (P.L. 106-25) – This
law allows states and school districts to bypass certain burdensome
requirements of federal education programs in order to provide greater
flexibility with accountability in trying innovative education reforms.
Teacher
Empowerment Act (H.R. 1995; Passed the House) – The
bill would combine funds from the Eisenhower Professional Development
Program, Goals 2000, and the President’s class size reduction program to
give schools more flexibility to increase teacher quality or to hire more
quality teachers to reduce class size.
The
Student Results Act (H.R. 2; Passed the House) –
This legislation revises Title I (for educationally disadvantaged
students) and other programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA). The bill provides for more accountability to parents; allows
parents to transfer their children from failing Title I schools to other
public and charter schools; and improves the quality of Title I teachers
and teachers’ aides. The bill also reforms the bilingual education
program, Indian education programs, and rural education assistance in ESEA.
Academic
Achievement for All Act (Straight A's) (H.R. 2300; Passed the House)
– The bill would allow up to 10
states maximum flexibility in how they use federal K-12 funds, in exchange
for states being held strictly accountable for improving academic
achievement. State participation would be optional.
The
Education OPTIONS Act (H.R. 4141; Passed the Committee) –
The Education OPTIONS (Opportunity to Invest in and Protect Our Nation’s
Students) Act would allow states and school districts unprecedented
authority to transfer federal funds among programs in ESEA to better meet
their unique circumstances, including targeting students with the greatest
academic needs. The legislation also includes programs for violence and
drug abuse prevention, technology in the classroom, charter schools, and
several other smaller programs.
Fiscal
Year 2000 Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill (P.L. 106-113) – A
negotiated agreement was reached between the White House and Congress on a
Republican proposal to place more emphasis on teacher quality and to
provide more flexibility for schools. Funds can no longer be used to hire
unqualified teachers; up to 25 percent of the money can be used for
teacher training; and those schools with major teacher quality problems
can apply for a waiver through the Education Flexibility Act to use all
their funding for improving teacher training. The agreement also provides
public school choice for Title I students trapped in failing schools. An
additional $134 million was added to the spending package to help school
districts meet the new parental choice option, as well as to improve low
performing Title I schools.
The
IDEA Full Funding Act (H.R. 4055; Passed the House) – The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) became law in 1975 to
provide children with disabilities access to a quality public education;
it pledged federal contributions of 40 percent of the average per pupil
expenditure to assist states and local schools with the extra costs of
educating such children. The IDEA Full Funding Act sets a schedule for
fully funding the federal government’s portion of IDEA by providing $2
billion a year increases until 2010.
Literacy
Involves Families Together (LIFT) Act (H.R. 3222; Passed the House) --
The LIFT Act reauthorizes and makes
changes to improve the quality of family literacy services under the Even
Start program. LIFT strengthens accountability; expands the ages at which
children can be served; sets standards based on scientific research;
encourages coordination with other federal programs to provide better
services; and provides funding for training and technical assistance to
local Even Start instructors.
The
Impact Aid Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3616; Passed the House) – The
bill is designed to help school districts deal with the loss of tax
revenue that results from a heavy presence of federally owned land and
property.
The
Training and Education for American Workers Act (H.R. 4402) -
Major provisions were part of the H-1B legislation approved in the
Senate and House. This includes strengthening job-training projects funded
through the use of H-1B non-immigrant visa fees by ensuring that such
training is tied to the types of occupations being filled by H-1B
non-immigrants.
Dollars
to the Classroom Resolution (H. Res. 303; Passed the House) –
A resolution calling for at least 95 percent of federal funding to go
directly to the classroom.
Pell
Grant Resolution (H. Con. Res. 88; Passed the House) – A
resolution urging increased funding for the Pell Grant program and
existing Campus-Based Aid programs.
WORKFORCE
OSHA
Reform (H.R. 5178; Passed the House) – The
Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act protects workers in the health care
industry who work with needles and other sharps. In other action,
committee Republicans halted a misguided policy by Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) to invade employees’ homes for workplace
safety violations.
Patient
Protection Act (H.R. 2990; Passed the House) –
Allows workers in small businesses and the self-employed to join
together under their association health plans (AHPs) to obtain the same
economies of scale, purchasing clout, and administrative efficiencies that
benefit the employees of large employers.
Stock
Options/Overtime (P.L. 106-202) –
The Worker Economic Opportunity Act overturned an ill-advised Labor
Department policy by ensuring that employers do not have to include stock
options in an employee’s overtime pay calculation.
FLSA
Reform (H.R. 3081; Passed the House) –
Approved three reforms of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to
increase the minimum wage and update the current overtime exemptions for
computer professionals, inside sales employees, and licensed funeral
directors and embalmers. Changes to FLSA will help 21st Century businesses
attract and compensate the best employees.
Paycheck
Fairness Legislation (H.R. 2434; Passed the Committee) –
The Worker Paycheck Fairness Act requires unions, whose members pay
union dues as a condition of keeping their jobs and which spend members’
dues for activities not necessary to collective bargaining, to get the
written consent of their workers and to provide better information
concerning how the dues were spent.
Ergonomics
(H.R. 987; Passed the House) –
The Workplace Preservation Act prohibits OSHA from promulgating an
ergonomics standard until completion of a congressionally mandated study
by the National Academy of Sciences of the cause and effect relationship
between work activities and "musculoskeletal disorders." In
addition, amendments were included in both House and Senate versions of
the FY 2001 labor spending bills to prohibit OSHA from pursuing this
premature action.
FAIR
Act (H.R. 1987; Passed the Committee) – The
Fair Access to Indemnity and Reimbursement (FAIR) Act provides that small
businesses that prevail against the National Labor Relations Board or OSHA
in actions brought against them by those agencies will be reimbursed for
their attorneys fees and the costs in defending themselves.
Wealth
Through the Workplace (H.R. 3462; Passed the Committee) –
This legislation creates a new "super stock option,"
combining the most attractive elements of the two existing types of stock
options (incentive stock options and non-qualified stock options) and
creating one new option.
Retirement
Security / Investment
Advice (H.R. 4747; Passed the EER Subcommittee and H.R. 1102; Passed
the House) – The
Retirement Security Advice Act (H.R. 4747) allows employers to provide
their workers with access to professional investment advice to help with
the dilemma of how to invest vital retirement savings. In addition, the
Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act (H.R. 1102), a
bipartisan bill, makes retirement security more available to millions of
workers by expanding small business retirement plans; allowing workers to
save more; making pensions more secure; and cutting red tape prohibiting
employers from establishing pension plans.
Bonus/Gainsharing
(H.R. 1381; Passed the Committee) -- The
Rewarding Performance in Compensation Act would make it easier for
companies to encourage employee involvement and recognize employee
contributions to company success through cash rewards. Similar provisions
were passed in the Senate as part of the bankruptcy reform bill. |
