Legislative Accomplishments

Education and Labor Legislative Victories

Congressman Rubén Hinojosa continues to work hard in the 113th Congress to preserve and protect America’s middle class by contiuing to support the laws passed by the 112th Congress. This includes creating jobs and keeping higher education and healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone.

Reducing Health Care Costs, Guaranteeing Choices, and Ensuring Access to Quality, Affordable Care

• America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (passed by Committee)

Preserving Retirement Security

• 401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act (passed by Committee)

Preserving Workers’ Wages

• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (signed into law)
• Paycheck Fairness Act (passed by House)

Saving Jobs, Helping Schools

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (signed into law)
• 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act (passed by House)

Making College More Affordable

• Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (passed by Committee)

New Era of National Service and Volunteerism

• Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (signed into law)

Stopping Child Abuse at Residential Programs for Teens

• Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 (passed by House)

"We will dedicate ourselves to improving our nation's schools and continue our efforts to make college more affordable and accessible, so that every student has the opportunity to succeed…

"We will fight to restore workers' rights, so that every American can benefit from economic opportunity. And we will make the preservation and strengthening of retirement savings a priority, so that all Americans can enjoy a secure retirement after a lifetime of hard work."
-- Chairman George Miller on the Committee’s priorities in the 111th Congress

REDUCING HEALTH CARE COSTS, GUARANTEEING CHOICES, AND ENSURING ACCESS TO QUALITY, AFFORDABLE CARE

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
(Passed by Committee)

On July 17, the Committee passed the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act by a vote of 26-22 to deliver the fundamental health reforms that Americans want by reducing and controlling costs, guaranteeing people’s choices of doctors and plans, and ensuring access to quality, affordable health care for all. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will cover 97 percent of Americans by 2015, and two million more Americans will have employer-provided health plans by 2019.

The key principles of legislation include, among other things:

• Increasing choice and competition.
• Giving Americans peace of mind.
• Improving quality of care for every American.
• Ensuring shared responsibility.
• Protecting consumers and reducing waste, fraud, and abuse.
• Making reforms to the health care delivery system that will help tame long-term costs.

PRESERVING RETIREMENT SECURITY

 Legislation to Expose Hidden 401(k) Fees
(Passed by Committee)

The current economic crisis has heightened the need for legislation that will provide American workers with clear and complete information about Wall Street fees taken from their 401(k)-style accounts. The 401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act, passed by the Committee on June 27 by a vote of 29-17, will help workers shop around for the best retirement options by requiring simple fee disclosure on the investment options contained in their employer’s 401(k) plan. The measure also restores workers’ protections by laying out clear rules to ensure that workers receive investment advice at work that is based solely on interests of the account holder’s needs, not investment firms’ bottom line. Furthermore, it provides adjustments to pension funding rules to ensure plans can weather the economic crisis without being forced to choose between cutting jobs or freezing plans.

PRESERVING WORKERS’ WAGES

 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: Ensuring that Victims of Pay Discrimination
Are Treated Fairly
(Signed into Law)

On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. The measure, which passed the House by a vote of 250-177 on January 27, 2009, overturned a Supreme Court ruling that made it harder for workers to pursue pay discrimination claims. The legislation is named after Lilly Ledbetter, whose pay discrimination claim was denied by a 5-4 Supreme Court decision on May 29, 2007. The court said she had waited too long to sue for pay discrimination, despite the fact that she filed a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as soon as she received an anonymous note alerting her to pay discrimination. The court ruled that since she did not raise a claim within 180 days of the employer’s decision to discriminate, she could not receive back pay. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would clarify that every paycheck or other compensation resulting, in whole or in part, from an earlier discriminatory pay decision constitutes a violation of the Civil Rights Act. The legislation would also make it clear that employees who are victims of discrimination are entitled to up to two years of back pay, as already provided in the Civil Rights Act.

Paycheck Fairness Act
(Passed by House)

On January 9, 2009, the House passed the Paycheck Fairness Act by a vote of 256-163 to help end the discriminatory practice of paying men and women unequally for performing the same job. Loopholes created by courts and weak sanctions in the law have allowed many employers to avoid liability for engaging in gender-based pay discrimination. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, gender-based wage discrimination remains a significant problem for women in the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women only make 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research concluded that this wage disparity will cost a woman anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over her lifetime in lost wages.

SAVING JOBS, HELPING SCHOOLS

Providing Billions in Emergency Relief to Save and Create Jobs, Help Schools
(Signed into Law)

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law on February 17, 2009 to save and create millions of jobs, invest in education and get the economy moving forward again. Passed by the House on February 13, 2009 by a vote of 246-183, the law provides:

• A $53.6 billon state stabilization fund to help states prevent cutbacks, layoffs, create jobs by modernizing schools and colleges and meet other needs.
• $13 billion in Title I – which goes to educate low-income students – for school districts and $12.2 billion in IDEA funding to help districts educate students with disabilities.
• $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start
• $2 billion for Child Care Development Block Grants to provide child care services to an additional 300,000 low-income children while their parents are at work.
• $500 increase in the Pell Grant scholarship for the next school year
• A new $2,500 tuition tax credit to help an additional four million students families pay for college.
• Almost $4 billion for job training programs
• $500 million to help prepare Americans with disabilities for employment.
• $120 million to provide community service jobs to an additional 24,000 low-income older Americans.
• $500 million to help states place unemployed workers in open jobs.
• A 65 percent subsidy toward COBRA premiums for up to nine months for workers who recently lost their jobs.

Modernizing America’s School Facilities
(Passed by House)

On May 14, 2009, the House passed the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, by a vote of 275-155, to invest in modernizing public school buildings across the country. The measure invests $6.4 billion in school repair and renovation projects for fiscal year 2010 that would create safer, healthier, and more energy-efficient learning environments for students. It would create clean energy jobs that will help put workers in hard-hit industries back to work, and make investments in Gulf Coast schools as they continue to rebuild following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and schools in other areas recovering from natural disasters. According to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute, the legislation would support 136,000 jobs.

MAKING COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE

Single Largest Investment in Pell Grants and Student Loans in History
(Passed by Committee)

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed by the Committee on July 21 by a vote of 30-17, will help America reach President Obama’s goal of producing the most college graduates by 2020 by making college accessible and transforming the way our student loan programs operate. It will expand quality early education opportunities that will put more children on the path to success. It will strengthen community colleges and training programs to help build a highly-skilled, innovative, 21st century workforce ready for the rigors of a global economy. And it will boost the fiscal health of the country our children will inherit by paying down the deficit.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act:

• Invests the bill’s savings in making college affordable and helping more Americans graduate
• Provides reliable, affordable, high-quality Federal student loans for all families
• Prepares students and workers for 21st century jobs by providing all Americans with the skills and resources they need to compete
• Ensures that the next generation of students enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed in school
• Meets Pay-As-You-Go fiscally responsible principles and reduces the deficit

NEW ERA OF NATIONAL SERVICE AND VOLUNTEERISM

 Renewing and Improving National Service and Volunteer Programs
(Signed into Law)

 With Americans facing unprecedented challenges in their communities, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on March 31, 2009 that will launch a new era of national service and volunteerism to help the nation emerge stronger from the economic crisis. The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on April 21, 2009, was approved by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 275 to 149. The law creates 175,000 new service opportunities and rewards Americans for commitment. Among other things, it would create new service corps to meet key needs in low-income communities, provide incentives for middle and high school students to engage in service, boosts opportunities for disadvantaged and foster youth, Native Americans and older Americans.

 STOPPING CHILD ABUSE AT RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS FOR TEENS

Keeping Kids Safe
(Passed by House)

 The House passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 on February 23, 2009 by a vote of 295-102. The Government Accountability Office found thousands of allegations of child abuse and neglect at residential programs for teens – including therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness camps, boot camps, and behavior modification facilities – between 1994 and 2007. Tragically, in a number of cases, this abuse and neglect led to the death of a child. To address this urgent problem, this measure would establish minimum health and safety standards for preventing child abuse and neglect at teen residential programs. It prohibits physical, mental, and sexual abuse and requires programs to provide children with adequate food, water, rest, and medical care. The bill allows for civil penalties against programs that violate the new standards. It also requires states, within three years, to take on the role of setting and enforcing standards for both private and public youth residential programs. The legislation would also help ensure that parents have the information about teen residential programs that they need to make safe choices for their children.

EDUCATION & LABOR LEGISLATION

Signed Into Law:

Passed by House:

Passed by Committee: