The current K-12 education system is failing our students, and state and local attempts to make it better have been hampered by an enormous federal footprint. Parents and education leaders have lost much of their decision-making authority to Washington bureaucrats, and the Secretary of Education has bullied states into adopting the Obama administration’s pet projects. Unsurprisingly, student achi... Read more »
This week the House of Representatives will consider a replacement for the obsolete No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB was passed in 2001 by a large, bipartisan majority — but to get that majority, the Bush administration had to make compromises that transformed its modest yet firm vision for the federal role into a sprawling, unworkable mess. Among other excesses, NCLB mandated that schools d... Read more »
Our country faces tough challenges: a slow economy, stagnant wages, and a weak job market. With the right set of bold reforms, our nation can once again be a land of opportunity and prosperity for every American who seeks it. Toward that end, this week the House of Representatives will consider the Student Success Act, a commonsense proposal to fix a broken K-12 education system and help all chil... Read more »
The Club for Growth is right about a bunch of issues, but they’re wrong about the pending House bill to replace No Child Left Behind with something far better. H.R. 5 (the “Student Success Act”), slated for floor action a few days hence, would, if enacted, be the most conservative federal education move in a quarter century. It has the potential to undo nearly all of the mischievous, dysfunctiona... Read more »
“Bipartisan” has largely become a phase used to describe ancient history. Yet the Republicans and Democrats on the House Committee on Education & the Workforce just negotiated complex compromise legislation that affects the basic rights of retirees—and last week it became law as part of the Cromnibus. What they did was controversial: They amended the Employees Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA... Read more »
There are nearly 11 million workers and retirees across America, including more than 165,000 Minnesotans, who rely on the little known but economically vital multiemployer pension system. Nationwide, this system has an economic impact of approximately $38 billion — with more than $375 million in benefits being paid to Minnesota retirees each year. Today, many multiemployer pension plans find them... Read more »
Letters of support are pouring in for the bipartisan agreement to reform multiemployer pensions. Released by House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) and Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA), the proposal includes reforms to provide trustees with new tools to save troubled plans, while protecting taxpayers. See what business and union leaders are saying in support of this bipart... Read more »
Child care and community leaders are voicing support for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill to help low-income families access child care while a parent pursues an education or job-training. “This bill will provide important reforms that will directly address quality improvement, affordability, continuity of care, and cost stabilization measures that will ... Read more »
By Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) Many college graduates are delaying some of life’s most important decisions – including starting a family and buying a home – because they face a pile of debt with no job prospects. A record number of young adults live with their parents and roughly half of college graduates under the age of 26 rely on mom and dad for financial help. President Obama wants pe... Read more »
The open enrollment period for insurance plans mandated by the Affordable Care Act is just months away. For most Hoosiers, that means a bigger bite out of their monthly budgets next year. Health insurance premiums in Indiana will go up an average of 13% in 2015 according to a study conducted by the Health Research Institute. That means individual Hoosiers can expect to pay about $497 per month fo... Read more »
