U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement after President Obama proposed consolidating a number of overlapping federal agencies:
“A maze of bureaucracy often undermines important services workers, educators, and employers need. The Government Accountability Office has identified roughly 47 separate job training programs spread across nine federal agencies and 82 teacher quality programs administered by ten agencies. Clearly, there’s room to simplify our government, and that’s why the House Education and the Workforce Committee has made education and job training reform central parts of our legislative agenda. We have already taken bold steps to eliminate dozens of inefficient education programs, and this year the committee will advance sensible reforms that streamline the nation’s job training programs.
“While today’s announcement by the president is encouraging, it remains to be seen whether this is a partisan ploy or the first step in a concerted effort to usher in a smaller and more accountable government. I look forward to reviewing the details of the proposal, and hope it is the start of a larger effort by the administration to finally rein in the size and cost of the federal government."
