With the 119th Congress underway, Senate leaders recently announced their committee rosters for this Congress. The Senate Committees on Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) will have several new faces.  

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) will take over as chair of the Appropriations Committee. The long-time Senator served as the ranking member in the previous Congress. In addition to Appropriations, she serves on HELP and has made education a priority during her entire Senate career.  

Joining the committee for Senate Republicans are Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Mike Rounds (R-SD). Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is currently still on the committee for this Congress; however, he will leave Congress when he gets confirmed as Secretary of State. That will open another spot on the committee for an additional Republican. 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) will move to the role of ranking member having served as chair this last Congress. Similarly to Sen. Collins, she sits on HELP and was the top Democrat on that committee for several Congresses. Democrats joining the committee are Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). They replace Sens. Joe Manchin (I-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Jon Tester (D-MT). Sens. Manchin and Sinema both retired from Congress and Sen. Tester did not win re-election. 

Moving to HELP, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will take over as the new chair of the committee. For the 118th Congress, he served as the ranking member. He came to the Senate in 2015 and previously served in the House of Representatives from 2009-2015. His priorities on education and workforce include introducing the College Transparency Act as well as negotiating a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). ACTE endorsed the College Transparency Act in the 118th Congress. As chair, it will be his responsibility to set the direction of the committee. 

On the Republican side of the aisle, four new members will join the committee for the 119th Congress. They are Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Banks (R-IN) and Josh Hawley (R-MO). Of these new members, Sen. Banks is the only new member of the Senate. He was elected to the House in 2016 and served his entire tenure on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. 

Two members who were on HELP in the previous Congress will not return. Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Ted Budd (R-NC) have rolled off the committee to pursue other assignments.  

On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will remain as the top Democrat on the committee, but he will shift to serve as the ranking member for this Congress.  

The Democrats will also welcome three new members to the committee: Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Andy Kim (D-NJ). All three are freshmen Senators in the 119th Congress. Sens. Blunt Rochester and Kim previously served in the House while Sen. Alsobrooks served as the Executive for Prince George’s County in Maryland. 

In the coming weeks, ACTE will be reaching out to all the new members and advocating for CTE, and our longtime priorities. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org).    

For the 119th Congress, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) will chair the House Committee on Education and Workforce. He takes over for Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) who has been the top Republican on the committee since 2017. 

Walberg was first elected to Congress in 2006. After losing his 2008 reelection, he returned to Congress after the 2010 mid-term elections and represents Michigan’s 5th district. Prior to his time in office, Walberg served as a pastor in Michigan and Indiana and the president of the Warren Reuther Center for Education and Community Impact. 

As chair, Walberg has indicated that he would use his leadership position to focus on expanding Pell Grant access for short-term training programs, increasing apprenticeships and addressing college affordability. In the 118th Congress, Walberg was a co-sponsor of the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act. ACTE posted about the bill when it was introduced in December 2023. 

After winning the gavel, Walberg said in a statement, “We have a unique opportunity to make substantive reforms to empower parents, incentivize workforce training, improve government efficiency, and unburden American innovators and job creators.” 

Walberg has also indicated that we would focus on providing alternatives to college. In a December interview, Walberg said, “We’ve wrung our hands for too long about boys not going on to college. There are probably several reasons for that, but we also know that there are plenty of boys — and girls — who, given the opportunity to see what’s out there, can make [other] choices.” 

As the new Congress begins, ACTE will work with Walberg and the other members of the committee to continue to advocate for CTE and our longtime priorities. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org).  

Happy New Year! Congress kicked off its 119th session on January 3, reelecting current Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). Rep. Johnson will have a full agenda to navigate, with only three months to negotiate a Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations package in order to avert a government shutdown, and pressure to pass a large reconciliation bill reflecting the new Administration’s priorities. The Senate will also have to dedicate significant time to confirming the incoming Administration’s cabinet nominations. To get in touch with your new Members of Congress, check out ACTE’s resources on how to connect with them and advocate for CTE! 

• House Reelects Speaker Johnson: Friday marked the first day of the 119th Congress. The primary activity was in the House, where Members reelected Rep. Mike Johnson as Speaker after a somewhat uncertain vote. The agenda also consisted of the addresses from leadership and swearing in of new members.  

• Senate Announces Committee Assignments: The incoming Senate Majority Leader Thune (R-SD) and Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) announced committee assignments for the 119th Congress. New Senators on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee include Sens. Scott, Hawley, Banks, Crapo, Blackburn, Kim and Alsobrooks. ACTE will share more about these new additions and their work moving forward! 

• Department of Labor Awards $65 Million for Community College: The Department of Labor announced $65 million in grants to 18 colleges in 14 states to support programs that help community colleges scale affordable, high-quality workforce training to meet employers’ and workers’ skill development needs in critical industries. 

• Department of Education Releases Final Rule on Distance Education: The Department of Education released a set of final regulations related to distance education and eligibility for financial aid under the Higher Education Act. The new regulations will take effect in 2026 and plan to increase federal oversight of online programs, requiring colleges to report more data on enrollment in distance education classes. In a win for CTE programs at area CTE centers, the final rules removed the changes proposed in earlier drafts that would have eliminated the ability for asynchronous coursework to be included in clock-hour programs. This was a priority we had strongly advocated for when the initial draft regulations were published.  

Effectively Communicating Career Technical Education to Engage Every Learner: Advance CTE released a new resource that offers local and state CTE leaders strategies on how to best communicate, engage and build relationships with key populations and groups, including learners with Perkins V special populations status. The self-paced tool can be customized to meet the needs of each user and comes with videos, transcripts and other resources to help users create and assess communications for key audiences.

Students’ Experiences and the Implications of Enhanced Holistic Supports for Non-degree Pathways: A report from the National Skills Coalition details how students experience non-degree pathways and identifies what additional supports students need. Researchers found the following about how students experience non-degree pathways programs: 

• Students pursue these programs to build better lives for themselves and their families. 
• Students believe that these programs are not set up for them, with a lack of flexibility that makes it difficult to balance work, life and education responsibilities. 
• Students find supports inadequate. Financial security is a major issue for many, and information on how to access resources is often patchy. 

Based on their experiences in non-degree pathways, students described what they want to see more of from their programs: 

• More financial and basic needs services to support students. 
• Additional support in navigating public benefit programs. 
• Increased affordable child care access for parents. 
• More information and tailored support for student decision-making. 
• Better awareness and understanding of students’ experiences in non-degree pathways programs. 

Inspiring Reenrollment in Some College, No Credential (SCNC) Students: Education Dynamics released a report that aims to better understand the circumstances surrounding students who attend a postsecondary institution but ultimately leave without a credential: 36.8 million students under the age of 65 fell into this category in 2022. 

When initially enrolling in a postsecondary institution, these students’ most common motivator was starting a new career to earn more money (60%). Students also cited launching a career aligned with their interests (40%) and taking the next step after high school/technical school (30%) as top motivators for seeking postsecondary education. Students reported they were aware of what career they wanted to pursue (85%) and were informed of potential career paths by their respective institutions (85%). However, 34% indicated that transferring credits was the most challenging part of the enrollment process, with the number of credits a school is willing to accept significantly influencing enrollment decisions. 

Students exited their programs for a variety of reasons, most commonly cost (41%); lack of flexibility (19%); and inability to use federal financial aid (15%), as well as COVID-19-related reasons.  

To address barriers to reenrollment, researchers recommend making credit transfer policies more transparent, accepting and easier to understand. 

Women Need Better Access to High-paying Apprenticeships: The Institute for Women’s Policy Research published a brief that analyzes apprenticeship income and opportunities accessed by men and women. The Institute found that, in 2024, the median hourly wage for women that completed registered apprenticeships was $22 compared to $34.68 for men, with Black women apprentices earning only $20 an hour. Researchers noted that this pay gap is largely owing to women’s overrepresentation in low-paying apprenticeship fields.

Congress finally went home this weekend after passing a continuing resolution (CR) preventing a government shutdown and funding the government through March 14 and wrapping up other legislative work for the year. On the Administration side, things are quieting down for the holidays, although several events have been held to wrap-up or promote key initiatives as the Biden Administration winds down their work. Keep reading and stay tuned for more updates in the new year! 

• Congress Averts Government Shutdown: Congress passed an agreement to keep the government funded through March 14 at the last minute, securing three more months to finalize appropriations packages, including the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill. Unfortunately, the final CR did not include a reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) like an earlier version – ACTE will work to make this a priority of the 119th Congress.  

• Congress Passes Social Security Fairness Act: On Dec. 21, Congress passed H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, marking the culmination of decades of advocacy to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) within the Social Security program. These provisions unfairly reduced Social Security benefits, including spousal benefits, for those who worked in private sector jobs and paid into Social Security, but also worked in a public sector job and earned a pension. 

• Department of Labor to Host Digital Literacy Event: The Department of Labor is hosting an event in the new year to discuss resources available to promote digital literacy and skill-building through the workforce system.  

• Department of Education Withdraws Some Pending Rules: The Department of Education has withdrawn two sets of pending regulations that were in progress but not complete: rules related to student loan forgiveness and to transgender student athletes. These proposals would have most likely been overturned by the incoming Trump Administration, and had faced legal challenges, so the withdrawal is primarily a procedural move to clear up pending regulations before the transition.   

• National Science Foundation (NSF) Funding Opportunity: The NSF S-STEM program provides scholarships for low-income students pursing postsecondary degrees in STEM fields, and is encouraging higher education institutions, including community colleges to apply for awards of $80-$120 million. Apply by March 4.  

• Department of Education Hosts Roundtable on Chronic Absenteeism: The White House and Department of Education hosted a roundtable on chronic absenteeism in schools, discussing new ways to engage students and what is being done to help support higher attendance rates. 

• Department of Education Hosts Event on Pathways for Multilingualism: Secretary Cardona hosted the “Creating Pathways for Multilingualism for All” convening to showcase language immersion programs and discuss best practices.  

Early in the morning on Dec. 21, Congress finally passed a new Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating after the existing funding expired on Dec. 20. The vote was ultimately successful after a chaotic week in which a number of different plans were suggested and abandoned in various ways.

In the end, a government shutdown was avoided and funding is now extended through March 14. This means Congress will have time once they return in January to (hopefully) complete work on final FY 2025 appropriations bills, including education and workforce development funding. The CR also included approximately $110 billion in additional disaster relief and farm aid, a one-year extension of the Farm Bill, and an extension of some health care provisions. It did not include a provision to raise the debt limit, which had been proposed earlier in the week.

Unfortunately, as negotiations unfolded, a number of other agreed-upon provisions were also left out of the final bill, including the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which we wrote about earlier in the week and had originally been included in the deal. Congress will have to go back to work on WIOA reauthorization next year.

After passing the CR, Congress adjourned for the rest of the year, and will reconvene for their new session on January 3, when new Members of Congress are expected to be sworn in and elections will begin for Speaker of the House.

Just before adjourning for the year, Congress managed a huge victory for CTE teachers and other public sector workers. Early Saturday morning, by a vote of 76-20, the Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82. The House had passed the bill in November, so this Senate action cleared the way for the bill to be sent to the President and signed into law!

The Senate had to move through a number of procedural steps and defeat several amendments before finally approving the bill. This action marked the culmination of decades of advocacy to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) within the Social Security program. These provisions unfairly reduced Social Security benefits, including spousal benefits, for those who worked in private sector jobs and paid into Social Security, but also worked in a public sector job and earned a pension, depending on how the retirement system was structured in a state. They were particularly problematic for CTE teachers in about 15 states because many of our teachers work in the private sector before transitioning to teaching later in their careers. It made it even more difficult to recruit CTE teachers in these states because they faced losing their already earned Social Security benefits.

The bill that was passed completely eliminates these provisions, which should restore Social Security benefits for anyone who meets other eligibility criteria but had suffered a reduction or elimination of their monthly payment because of GPO or WEP. It is not yet clear how quickly the Social Security Administration will be able to adjust payments for current retirees, but the bill states that any payment after December 2023 should not be subject to GPO and WEP, so it appears some catchup payments will be needed in addition to monthly adjustments going forward.

We are relieved that retired CTE educators who were being penalized by these provisions will finally see relief, and that it will be just a little easier to recruit CTE educators moving forward!