Committee on Education and Workforce
More on Committee on Education and Workforce
May 2, 2017
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, under current law, if an employee wants to work overtime, put the money in the bank where it can earn interest, and use it to cover the cost of taking some time off later with the permission of the employer, he can do that today without this bill.
But under H.R. 1180, instead of getting paid for overtime work in the next scheduled paycheck, the employee might not get paid until as much as a year later, when his employer decides to let him take that comp time.
This legislation simply weakens the protections available in the Fair Labor Standards Act--the original family-friendly workplace law--at the very moment that we really ought to be strengthening the law.
April 5, 2017
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1304, the Self-Insurance Protection Act, purports to protect stop-loss insurers from being regulated at the Federal level. It appears that we are considering a bill that is a solution in search of a problem.
I am not opposed to stop-loss insurance or the purpose of stop-loss insurance. It can be helpful in shielding employers from unforeseen risks in many instances when they choose to self-insure and want to protect themselves from unexpected and unusually high expenses.
Now, while many self-funded plans, in conjunction with the purchased stop-loss, look like a traditional fully insured plan, stop-loss coverage itself is not regulated at the Federal level. There is no indication or suggestion that the administration would seek to regulate stop-loss insurance, so the bill prohibits Federal regulation of stop-loss insurance.
March 24, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after House GOP Leadership postponed consideration of H.R. 1628 – Trumpcare:
“Today is a victory for health care security for millions of families. The bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was a bad deal for the American people, and even those who oppose the Affordable Care Act recognized the serious flaws with the Republican plan. By every measure, the Republican bill made things worse – by increasing the number of uninsured, forcing almost everyone else to pay more for less, while giving a huge tax cut to the wealthy.”
March 24, 2017
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as we talk about the Affordable Care Act, I think it is important to remind ourselves of the situation before it passed: costs were going through the roof, those with preexisting conditions could not get insurance, women were paying more than men, and every year millions of people were losing their insurance.
We passed the Affordable Care Act. Since then, the costs have continued to go up, but at the lowest rate in 50 years. Those with preexisting conditions can get insurance at the standard rate. Women are no longer paying more than men. Instead of millions of people losing their insurance every year, more than 20 million more people now have insurance.
The full name of the Affordable Care Act is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
March 22, 2017
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today we are considering a bill that purports to make it easier for small businesses to obtain coverage, and tomorrow we will vote on a bill that will take away health insurance coverage for 24 million Americans and force everyone else to pay more for less. So not only are we considering a bill today that will make things worse, we are considering it a day before we vote on ruining health security for working families in order to provide tax cuts for the wealthy.
As we debate the possible replacement of the Affordable Care Act, I think it is instructive that we look back at what the situation was before the ACA passed.
Listening to some, you would think that the costs weren't going up at all. In fact, costs were going through the roof before the ACA, and small businesses, particularly, were having spectacular cost increases--and that is until somebody got sick. At that point, you were unlikely to be able to afford any insurance at all.
March 16, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the White House released an outline of its Fiscal Year 2018 budget priorities, known as the “skinny budget.”
“This budget proposal is yet another broken promise from the Administration to the American people. Cutting $54 billion from programs that help protect and support working families to learn and earn is no way to grow the national economy or put people back to work. Working families deserve a budget that invests in their health and futures, boosts wages, helps them balance work and family life, and levels the playing field for them and their children to succeed. President Trump’s budget proposal eliminates and reduces vital programs for students, teachers, and workers that will endanger public education, make college less affordable, and reduce the availability of workforce training
March 13, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Congressional Budget Office announced that 24 million more Americans would be uninsured under the Republicans’ Pay More For Less bill.
"The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed what we already knew - that millions of Americans would lose access to affordable health insurance under the Republican plan. This proposal was put together without considering the fundamental principles of arithmetic. By skewing the tax credits toward higher income families, it only shifts costs onto those living paycheck to paycheck.
March 9, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, received the 2017 Congressional Voice for Children Award at the National PTA Legislative Conference. The award honors outstanding leadership and commitment to improving education and advancing issues impacting children’s health and well-being. “I am honored to receive the Congressional Voice for Children Award from National PTA,” said Congressman Scott. “PTA members in Virginia and across the nation work every day to ensure that every child has access to a safe learning environment and a great public school. I look forward to our continued partnership to ensure that Congress hears the voices of parents, teachers and communities in support of public education.”
March 6, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after Republicans finally released their proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act:
“The Republican bill to repeal the ACA is fundamentally flawed, because it purports to cover pre-existing conditions without an individual mandate. In states that have tried this, the markets have gone into total chaos. Furthermore, the tax credits proposed are likely to be insufficient for low-income working families, leaving millions worse off than they are today. When CBO ultimately scores this legislation, it will likely find that costs will go up and the number of people covered will go down."
March 1, 2017
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 83, the Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval that will undermine workplace safety and health. It does so by overturning a clarifying rule issued by OSHA on December 9, 2016, to ensure accurate occupational injury and illness reporting.
Now, first of all, it is strange that we are reversing a rule through the Congressional Review Act that creates no new compliance or reporting obligation, imposes no new costs. It simply gives OSHA the tools to enforce an employer's continuing obligation to record injuries and illnesses.
Spurred by the court of appeals decision, which blocked OSHA from citing continuing violations outside the 6-month statute of limitations, OSHA updated its recordkeeping rule.