Attempts were made to create a congressional committee on education and labor starting with the early congresses but issues over Congress's constitutional ability to oversee such issues delayed the committee's formation. Finally, on March 21, 1867, the Committee on Education and Labor was founded following the end of the Civil War and during the rapid industrialization of America. On December 19, 1883, the committee was divided into two, the Committee on Education and the Committee on Labor. The committees again merged on January 2, 1947, after the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, becoming the Committee on Education and Labor again.
Name changes
On January 4, 1995, when the Republicans took over the House, the committee was renamed the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities. It was renamed again as the Committee on Education and the Workforce two years later on January 7, 1997. On January 4, 2007, with the Democrats once again in the majority, the committee's name was changed back to Committee on Education and Labor.[1] After Republicans recaptured the House majority in the 2010 elections, they returned to the name, Committee on Education and the Workforce, effective with the opening of the 112th Congress in 2011.[2] After Democrats recaptured the House majority in the 2018 elections, they similarly returned to the previous name, Committee on Education and Labor, effective with the opening of the 116th Congress in 2019.[citation needed]
With the passing of the new House Rules associated to the Speaker negotiations in January of 2023, the 118th Congress renamed the committee as the Committee on Education and the Workforce again.[3]
Postsecondary education programs, including the Higher Education Act, which supports college access for low- and middle-income students and helps families pay for college;
Workforce development and skills development activities and adult education, and workforce development initiatives, including those under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which help local communities reskill and upskill workers;
Programs for the care and treatment of at-risk youth, child abuse prevention, and adoption;
Programs for older Americans;
Educational research and improvement;
Work requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and other federal programs;
Adolescent development programs, including but not limited to those providing for the care and treatment of certain at-risk youth, including the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and
Anti-poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Workforce policy
Pensions, health care, and other employer-sponsored benefits covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA);
Application of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to collective bargaining and union representation;
Occupational safety and health and mine safety;
Unpaid, job-protected leave as outlined in the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), as well as "comp time" or family friendly work schedules;
Equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA);
Various temporary worker programs under the Immigration and Nationality Act;
Wage and hour requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA);
Prevailing wage requirements for federal contractors under the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act;
Workers' compensation for federal employees, energy employees, longshore and harbor employees, and individuals affected by black lung disease; and
Matters dealing with employer and employee relations, as well as union transparency (the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act).
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