U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor

Also known as the Committee on Labor and the Workforce, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, or Committee on Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), this committee deals with actions with an overall effect on the population. Rep. George Miller (D-California) is Chair, and John Kline (R-Minnesota) is Ranking Minority Member.

Jurisdiction

Under the House rules, it has formal jurisdiction in:

Education

• Elementary and secondary education initiatives, including the No Child Left Behind Act, school choice for low-income families, special education (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), teacher quality & teacher training, scientifically-based reading instruction, and vocational and technical education;
• Higher education programs (the Higher Education Act), to support college access for low and middle-income students and help families pay for college;
• Early childhood & preschool education programs including Head Start;
• School lunch and child nutrition programs;
• Financial oversight of the U.S. Department of Education;
• Programs and services for the care and treatment of at-risk youth, child abuse prevention, and child adoption;
• Educational research and improvement;
• Adult education; and
• Anti-poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Labor

• Pension and retirement security for U.S. workers;
• Access to quality health care for working families and other employee benefits;
• Job training, adult education, and workforce development initiatives, including those under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), to help local communities train and retrain workers;
• Continuing the successful welfare reforms of 1996;
• Protecting the democratic rights of individual union members;
• Worker health and safety, including occupational safety and health;
• Providing greater choices and flexibility (including "comp time" or family time options) to working women and men;
• Equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment;
• Wages and hours of labor, including the Fair Labor Standards Act;
• Workers' compensation, and family and medical leave;
• All matters dealing with relationships between employers and employees.

Subcommittees

Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee

Education from early learning through the high school level including, but not limited to, elementary and secondary education, education of the disabled, the homeless and migrant and agricultural labor. Its overight includes Institute of Education Sciences; and early care and education programs and early learning programs, including the Head Start Act and the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act.

Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee

Education and training beyond the high school level, postsecondary student assistance and employment services. Oversight responsibilities include the Higher Education Act; postsecondary career and technical education, training and apprenticeship including the Workforce Investment Act, displaced homemakers, adult basic education (family literacy), rehabilitation, professional development, and training programs from immigration funding; pre-service and in-service teacher training, including Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title II of the Higher Education Act; science and technology programs; affirmative action in higher education; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; all welfare reform programs including, work incentive programs, welfare-to-work requirements; the Native American Programs Act, the Robert A. Taft Institute, and U.S. Institute for Peace.

Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee

Adolescent development and training 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; all matters dealing with child abuse and domestic violence, including the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and child adoption; school lunch and child nutrition, poverty programs including the Community Services Block Grant Act, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); all matters dealing with programs and services for the elderly, including nutrition programs and the Older Americans Act; environmental education; all domestic volunteer programs; ; library services and construction, and programs related to the arts and humanities, museum services, and arts and artifacts indemnity.

Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee

All matters dealing with relationships between employers and workers. Oversight includes the National Labor Relations Act, Labor Management Relations Act, Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment-related retirement security, including pension, health and other employee benefits, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); all matters related to equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment, including affirmative action.