Ranking Member Scott Rebukes Republicans’ Decision to Advance Bills that Ignore the Affordability Crisis

Ranking Member Scott Rebukes Republicans' Decision to Advance Bills that Ignore the Affordability Crisis

WASHINGTON - Today, the Committee on Education and Workforce Republicans advanced partisan legislation that fails to address the worsening affordability crisis caused by the Trump Administration and Republicans' reckless economic policies.

Instead of working with Committee Democrats to lower the cost of living for American families, Committee Republicans favored legislation designed to curb free speech, promote one-sided political priorities, and weaken protections that workers, students, and families rely on.

H.R.8476, No Antisemitism in Education Act, would enforce discrimination motivated by antisemitism the same as if it was included in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under current law antisemitism and other forms of religious discrimination may be actionable under Title VI if it is based on a person's national origin or shared ancestry. As written, the bill would elevate antisemitism above any other form of religious discrimination. The vague language in the bill would create preferential treatment of one religion over another and create confusion for schools on how to treat religious and racial discrimination.

H.R.4795, Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2025, would strip schools of access to Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA), the largest source of federal funding for American colleges and universities, if they do not certify that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israel. While the sponsor of the bill claims this is needed to stop the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, there has not been a single case of a college administration adopting the policies described in the bill.

H.R.9203, Student Protection and University Accountability Act, would amend the HEA to create a new compliance scheme for Title VI housed in the Office of Federal Student Aid. Defending students' civil rights is a responsibility that already belongs to and should remain with the Department of Education's (ED) Office for Civil Rights (OCR). If Republicans were serious about strengthening civil rights enforcement in education, they would join Democrats in calling for the Trump Administration to fully fund and staff OCR.

H.R.5505, Equal Campus Access Act of 2025, would amend the HEA to prohibit public colleges and universities from denying religious student organizations benefits afforded to other organizations because of their religious beliefs, undermining an institution's nondiscrimination policies and potentially shielding religious student groups from consequences for harmful conduct. For example, under the bill, a public college or university could risk losing federal funds if it sanctions an organization that prevents women from holding leadership positions, even if the organization claims that the conduct is in line with its religious beliefs.

H.R. 9228, Health DATA Act addresses 'gag clauses' that prevent health plan fiduciaries from overseeing their service providers. Regrettably, the Majority has abandoned the Committee's past bipartisan work on this issue and has made changes that do not strike the right balance between transparency and privacy. The bill lacks safeguards to ensure that plan data is utilized for appropriate purposes. Instead, it provides an open-ended right for employers to access data, including employee medical records, without ensuring privacy and that individuals are protected from discrimination.

H.R. 9381, AI Workforce Assessment and Research Enhancement Act, would require the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to collect data on how businesses use artificial intelligence (AI). While we can all agree that using data to understand AI's impact on the economy is important, this bill tasks the already underfunded BLS with data collection work that is largely already being performed by other agencies, without providing any additional funds for the work. For example, the Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey already asks employers questions relating to AI, producing results every two weeks.

To read Ranking Member Scott's remarks at the markup, click here.

To read Democratic amendments and letters of opposition, click here.

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