Today, the Education and Workforce Committee passed seven bills on education freedom, college accreditation, and workers’ benefits: H.R. 3453, Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act; H.R. 2516, Accreditation for College Excellence (ACE) Act of 2025; H.R. 4054, Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act; H.R. 2528, Association Health Plans Act; H.R. 2988, Protecting Prudent Investment of Retirement Savings Act; H.R. 2571, Self-Insurance Protection Act; and H.R. 3170, Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act.
On the passage of the bills, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) said: “Today we took another step toward protecting school choice for American families and reforming our broken higher education system. As we continue to expand and protect access to charter schools—which are an increasingly popular option for families and students—we are also working to reduce political bias in the college accreditation process. It’s long past time we get politics out of our education system and get back to preparing our students to succeed beyond the classroom.
“Today’s markup also highlights the Committee’s strong emphasis on protecting worker benefits. Across the board, these bills provide even greater choice to our entire workforce. As lawmakers, we should never restrict workers’ and job creators’ access to benefits that meet their unique needs. Rather, the bills that passed Committee today underscore our commitment to providing Americans with strong, reliable options that help secure their futures.”
Provides states with greater flexibility to use existing federal funds in the application process for charter school development. States are currently barred from using federal funds when in the pre-planning stage for new charter schools. Rep. Julia Letlow’s (R-LA) bill helps cut through the red tape so more students can receive a high-quality education.
Prohibits accreditors from mandating that institutions adopt DEI standards in order to receive accreditation. Rep. Burgess Owens’ (R-UT) bill codifies President Trump’s executive order on accreditation by prohibiting political litmus tests during the college accreditation process. This will protect a school’s access to federal funding regardless of political or ideological affiliation and upholds academic freedom on campus.
Addresses broader issues within the accreditation system and codifies President Trump’s accreditation executive order. Rep. Randy Fine’s (R-FL) bill does this by creating a new marketplace for accreditation by giving states the flexibility to designate industry-specific accreditors, providing an on-ramp for capable new accreditors, and directing accreditors to focus on student outcomes to guide accreditors’ quality assurance reviews.
Allows small businesses and self-employed individuals to join together and purchase health coverage through association health plans. Chairman Tim Walberg’s (R-MI) bill includes giving workers and their families more coverage options, instead of those offered on the pricey Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Advancing a radical political agenda at the expense of retirement savers is wrong. Republicans are committed to protecting the retirement savings of workers, retirees, and their families. Rep. Rick Allen’s (R-GA) bill seeks to ensure financial institutions are focused on maximizing returns in retirement plans rather than on woke ESG factors.
Protects small businesses’ access to stop-loss insurance, a form of insurance that helps employers self-insure and protects them from catastrophic health costs. Rep. Bob Onder’s (R-MO) legislation will expand and increase choice for small and midsized job creators who want to offer more affordable health benefits to their employees.
Allows injured federal workers to receive treatment from work-related injuries from state-licensed physician assistants and nurse practitioners. This bipartisan bill would improve access to care, enable better continuity of care, and grant workers more choice in selecting a health care provider with whom they are most comfortable. Additionally, Chairman Tim Walberg’s (R-MI) bill would help federal employees return to work more quickly, which would save taxpayers money.
