▶ 0:01:26Mic check one, two, testing one, two. Mic check one, two, testing one, two, mic check. This is a test. Okay.
▶ 0:06:07Heat. Heat.
▶ 0:06:50the chair lays before communication from the speaker. The speaker's rooms Washington DC November 21st 2025 I hereby appoint the honorable Dhouse to act as speaker promp on this day signed Johnson speaker of the house of The prayer will be offered by chap. Would you pray with me?
▶ 0:07:18Holy Lord, we too want to be holy. As the gospel song goes, we want to be set apart for you, a vessel tried and true. But as we come before your throne, we soon realize that our efforts often fall short. Our lives, our attitudes, and our behaviors are far from what anyone would deem holy. For you have counseledled us that holiness does not just mean perseverance in prayer or attempts to be tolerant with one another.
▶ 0:07:49Rather, you have commanded us to live in peace with one another without the continual strife or constant drama we perpetuate with those whom we perceive to be our enemies.
▶ 0:08:11I think uh I think uh maybe that was something we should hear. Huh? [laughter] I can't hear anything else now though. Are you ready?
▶ 0:08:29The committee will uh please come to order. A quorum is present. The committee meets today pursuant to notice. Without objection, the chair may recess the committee at any point. Thank you all for being here for this year's member hearing. Uh today is about listening. Today is about listening. Say that again. Member day gives our colleagues who aren't on uh this committee a chance to share what's happening back home.
▶ 0:08:59The stories, the ideas, and challenges shaping their communities. These real world perspectives help guide our work as we shape policies that actual meet actually meet people where they're at. Every district is different. and no one knows its needs better than the member who represents it. That's why your input matters. It keeps this committee grounded in what's really happening across the country.
▶ 0:09:28I maintain my belief that the committee on education and workforce is the hardest working committee in Congress. If you had opportunity to look at our schedule of hearings this week, you would agree with us. So far this year, we've passed 29 bills and resolutions, held dozens of hearings, led more than 50 oversight letters, [music] and played a pivotal role in the reconciliation process that saved Americans trillions of dollars.
▶ 0:09:58In fact, the working families tax cuts [music] uh tackle the rising costs of higher education and student debt by increasing accountability for colleges and universities uh and making education more affordable. The bill also strengthens our nation's workforce by increasing access to highquality job training courses, programs that prepare students for well-paying careers [music] without forcing them into a balorate degree.
▶ 0:10:27If America is going to lead in the 21st century, it needs to ensure students have practical skill skills aligned with high demand jobs. In addition, we have pushed back against the radical indoctrination happening in schools, protected women's sports, deterred foreign influence that allowed our enemies to infiltrate our universities, and combed the disturbing rise of on our college campuses.
▶ 0:10:55On the workforce side, the committee has advanced legislation to improve the lives of American workers, [music] reduce burdens on small businesses, address critical workforce shortages, and stimulate economic growth. The committee remain remains dedicated to advancing progrowth economic policies that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of the American workforce.
▶ 0:11:21To sum up, from early learning to lifelong careers, our work touches the lives of Americans at every stage of life. And that's exactly why the ideas shared today are so important. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and working together to provide student workers and job creators [music] with the opportunity to reach their full potential. And with that, I yield to my friend, the ranking member uh from Virginia, Mr. Scott.
▶ 0:11:52Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And today, the committee has gathered to hear from members of Congress about their priorities for improving programs within our committee's jurisdiction. Committee Democrats believe that we should focus on creating a country where everyone learns a living wage and a safe workplace free from discrimination. Country where all children, regardless of background, can access a quality public education. country where families don't fear that a trip to a doctor's office will be a trip to bankruptcy.
▶ 0:12:21Simply put, many Democrats want to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy or well-connected. And to that end, Democrats are ready to advance legislation that achieves these very goals. For example, this so far this year, we've introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which protects workers rights to organize and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. raise the wage act, which gradually raises the minimum wage to $17 an hour.
▶ 0:12:50Lower obstacles to achievement now. The loan act to lower the cost of college for current and future student borrowers and their families. The child care for working families act to comprehensively tackle child care crisis and ensure families across America can [music] find and afford highquality child care.
▶ 0:13:08the lowering drug costs for American families act to lower prescriptive drug prices for families and reign in pharmaceutical um price gouging and the equity and inclusion enforcement act to hold federally funded programs including schools accountable for providing SCO students with equal access to education by restoring the private right of action for students and parents to bring disparit impact discrimination claims under title six of the civil rights act.
▶ 0:13:36Democrats also are ready to reclaim our article one responsibility and finally hold the Trump administration accountable for brazenly flouting the law and disbanding agencies within our committee's jurisdiction without legal authority. In particular, the mass transfer of the education programs is not only extremely inefficient and wasteful, it also is a result of incon will also result in inconsistent enforcement of federal education and civil rights policy.
▶ 0:14:04It's my hope that Republicans have returned from their two-month taxpayer funded vacation, both rested and ready to work. And so I want to thank the members for being with us and welcome your input and look forward to working together to ensure America is a country where everyone can succeed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yel back.
▶ 0:14:24I thank the gentleman. Uh, pursuant to committee rule 8C, all members who wish to insert written state written statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the committee clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format by 5:00 p.m. 14 days after this hearing.
▶ 0:14:44And without objection, the hearing record will remain open for 14 days to allow such statements and other extraneous material noted during the hearing to be submitted for the official hearing record. Uh members uh today will have five minutes to discuss their education and workforce priorities. I remind those members that they will also be able to submit written testimony in support of the their legislation.
▶ 0:15:11First, I'll recognize on committee members who would like to briefly testify. [music] Mr. Bond. Five minutes.
▶ 0:15:26The gentleman from Florida. Do you wish to be recognized?
▶ 0:15:30Yes, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:15:31Recognized for five minutes.
▶ 0:15:32Well, [clears throat] thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for having this hearing today. I I really appreciate it. Um, I I'm going to start by thanking you for all of the work that you've done to fight anti-semitism, which is the subject of the bill that I'm that I'm going to talk about today. This committee has done an extraordinary job making that a priority, bringing in bad actors and highlighting their failure to protect their students. I think the question now before us is how do we pass legislation that will actually solve the problem as opposed to simply highlighting the problem.
▶ 0:16:02So, I want to tell you my story and I want to tell you how we solved it in Florida and then I want to talk about the bill that I'm hoping that we can eventually hear. So, I grew up a victim of anti-semitism. I went to public school in Lexon, Kentucky. When I was in seventh grade, um I failed algebra and I I came home with my midterm. I couldn't understand it. I'd gotten a great grade on all the tests. Why did I get an F? And I went to the school and I met with the teacher and he said, "Well, you got a zero on the test." I said, "Why did I get a zero?" I said, "Wait, that test was given on Yum Kapoor.
▶ 0:16:31Can I make it up?" He goes, "No, that's an unexcused absence." He said, "If this was a real holiday, everyone would have it off." I got angry. It's the only time I've ever seen my dad yell at someone. Um, but the teacher wouldn't relent. And so, I put my head down. I didn't miss a point for the rest of the year, and I ended up getting an A in the class. And that was just the least of the anti-semitism that I faced as a kid. I faced physical anti-semitism. And so I made a promise um that my children would not face the kinds of challenges that I had when they grew up. And it's a promise I've failed to keep.
▶ 0:17:02It's one that I've worked hard on, but I have kept that promise in Florida. And so when I was in the Florida legislature, I introduced a bill to deal with anti-semitism in K through 20 through not only K through 12, but in higher education. And the bill had a very simple premise. Um, every time I wanted to deal with anti-semitism, I kept being told, "Freedom of speech, freedom of speech, freedom of speech, people should be able to say these things, people should be able to behave in this manner." And I said, "Okay, I I hear you.
▶ 0:17:30But if a student refers to a student at one of our universities by the n-word, no one talks about freedom of speech. They invite them to go and get an education elsewhere." And by the way, that's how it ought to be. that the if the Kuclux Clan wants to show up and burn a cross on the college green, no one talks about freedom of speech, they go, you can't do it. And that's how it should be. But yet, when it came to anti-semitism, I constantly got this free speech, free speech, free speech thing.
▶ 0:17:59So, I came up with a novel way to solve the problem. I [clears throat] said, let's define anti-semitism. What is it? [music] And then, let's not tell educational institutions how they have to deal with it. We're not going to tell them what to do. We're just going to say they have to treat anti-semitism the same exact way [music] they deal with racism where we have 60 years of case law and institutional practice in dealing with this horrible thing racism.
▶ 0:18:28So in 2019 we passed this law. It's actually the first bill in the history of the state of Florida to be signed outside of the state of Florida. The bill was signed in Israel by myself and the governor. And in the six years that that bill has been in place in Florida, the problem has gone away. The bill's never been challenged in court because it's [music] it it's locked solid.
▶ 0:18:49Even if it was, if the bill were to ever be overturned in court, it would mean that all of the protections that we have done for 60 years dealing with racism would also be unconstitutional. Bill's never been challenged been used hundreds and hundreds of times. And so that's why when at Florida State University, um, a student seeing another student wearing an IDF t-shirt went up and assaulted them, slapped the camera out of their face. And that happened at Colombia. They had given an award.
▶ 0:19:17Well, at Florida State University, the student was suspended in 15 minutes, ultimately expelled, charged with assault, and sent to jail. See, in Florida, we don't put up with that. So, I've filed H um HR6186 which would basically take that bill which has solved this problem in Florida and bring it to the other 49 states. And I can tell you as I look at the flood of Jews making what I call little aliyah when they move to Florida because they want to be safe.
▶ 0:19:46They want to go to the to universities in Florida. They want to go to K12 education in Florida. Um there's no reason Florida should be the only place to do this. So I bring this forward because a I know that it works because it has worked and b I know that know that it's constitutional because it's been in place for six years. So as we move forward and we continue under your extraordinary leadership to solve this problem.
▶ 0:20:11I hope that this is something that we can take a look at bringing forward to not just highlight the bad actors but to actually go after them and solve the problem. So thank you Mr. Chairman for having this today. Thank you for letting me speak and I yield back. I thank the gentleman for sharing those ideas and and case history with us as well. Are there any other members who wish to be recognized? Representative I recognize the the representative uh Hayes for her five minutes.
▶ 0:20:40Thank you. Good morning and I appreciate the opportunity to come before committee today to talk about what I find as my priorities for myself and the constituents that I represent. It's very simple. This committee needs to reassert our article one and jurisdictional authorities over the areas that we um cover in particular the dismantling of the department of education.
▶ 0:21:06The committee has had no hearings to conduct oversight on the efforts led by the Trump administration to dismantle the department of the department of education. The department was created by Congress and only can be abolished by an act of Congress. So no matter what your opinion is on this matter, this committee should be having hearings to discuss what is happening. On March 20th, President Trump signed an executive order to close the Department of Education.
▶ 0:21:33And most recently on November 18th, several agreements were signed to disperse the authorities. This administration has used inter agency agreements to evade Congress and transfer day-to-day operations of congressionallymandated programs to other federal agencies. The most significant actions taken so far were this week.
▶ 0:21:53On Tuesday, the administration announced it signed six new agreements with the Department of Labor, Interior, Health and Human Services, um, and states to manage various education functions and quote, "break up the federal education bureaucracy." We should have the heads of all of those departments before this committee to explain what that looks like and the impact it will have on students to make sure that this transition does not negatively impact students, rural communities, low-income students, students with disabilities, and the populations that rely
▶ 0:22:24most heavily on public education. What did these changes mean to them? [music] The Office of Civil Rights had mass layoffs this year. The department's own data shows that a decline in resolving civil rights there has been a decline in resolving civil rights cases while new complaints have increased. This committee should be holding hearings on that. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act specifically says that the Department of Education is the home of 21st century community learning centers.
▶ 0:22:52This commun This committee should be having hearings on that. ICE agents are showing up at schools scaring immigrant children. This committee should be having hearings hearings on that. Parents, teachers, administrators, community leaders are uncertain about what this means. And this committee needs to reassert our jurisdictional and congressional authority so that we can get answers. The public demands answers.
▶ 0:23:15And while Secretary McMahon is creating a public campaign to show how no impact happened during the government shutdown, our uh I I mentioned this in committee the other day, our military schools, which are are where 67,000 students are educated canceled extracurricular activities. Um teachers weren't paid. Uh students risk losing scholarships. So there was disruption. This committee should be having hearings on that.
▶ 0:23:41The second thing I'd like to address before my time is over that is that I still have not received a response to my September 12th letter to this committee requesting a hearing specifically on school shootings. As the chair said, everybody should deal with the priorities of their district. Well, I represent New Town Sandy Hook and on December 14th, 2012, I was in the classroom. [music] It is unconscionable that this committee can't even have a hearing on that when we've seen a rise in school shootings over this year.
▶ 0:24:09This includes multiaceted interventions that include mental health supports, community engagement, gun safety measures, and educational programs. We should be discussing ways to address this crisis. This week in my state, the Sandy Hook Promise, the Connecticut Department of Emergency Service, and the public protection emergency services and public protections, and the Connecticut school districts recently celebrated the culmination of seven years of collaboration to improve school safety through grants.
▶ 0:24:38We are doing the work in Connecticut to make sure that this doesn't happen in our state again. This committee should be having hearings to make sure that this doesn't happen anywhere in this country.
▶ 0:24:48The grants that we've provided supported a wide range of district and youthled initiatives in Connecticut schools to deliver a holistic set of violence prevention programs, including peer-led interventions to educational programs and self harm reductions. These life-saving programs have helped prevent at least 20 potential youth suicides and support over 50 mental health interventions. We could also talk about ways to improve the physical infrastructure of schools to prevent to attempt to prevent school shootings.
▶ 0:25:17But either way, this committee should be holding hearings on that. We've heard the rundown of all the hearings that have had we've had over this year and in some cases multiple hearings on the same topics. Yet, we have had zero hearings on school safety and prevention when it comes to school shootings or the dismantling of the Department of Education. And so I encourage the chair as we are moving forward through the rest of the year and the calendar is built being built out that these topics be discussed. And with that I yield
▶ 0:25:47I thank the gentle lady from Connecticut and your your comments are duly noted. I recognize that now the gentle lady from Oregon, Miss Bonamichi.
▶ 0:25:57Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:25:58I want to start by aligning myself with the uh every comment made by Representative Hayes, our our national teacher of the year who serves on the committee. We all have a lot to learn from her and I recognize it's unusual for a committee member to use a member day to elevate their priorities. But unfortunately, these are not normal times. Mr.
▶ 0:26:15Chairman, on Tuesday, the Department of Education announced six new inter agency agreements that they are using to try to move critical educational programs and services to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, and the State Department. This follows the inter agency agreement earlier this year to move the administration of career and technical education and adult education out of the department of education.
▶ 0:26:39This plan is from project 2025's radical and destructive agenda to dismantle and eliminate the department of education which is illegal and unconstitutional. It is an act of Congress that created the department of education and only an act of [music] Congress could demand dismantle it. And far from their stated goal of empowering parents and states, these inter agency agreements create additional hurdles for educators, for staff, for families.
▶ 0:27:05So instead of reporting to and receiving funds from only one federal agency, now states and schools must navigate working with as many as five different agencies. I truly don't understand why my Republican colleagues are arguing that it's somehow [music] better for students in schools to scatter the programs and funding streams that support them across multiple agencies, all of which have different systems and procedures and typically do not have staff with the relevant expertise.
▶ 0:27:31I'm always looking for smarter, better ways to do things, but this plan is neither smart nor better. It doesn't streamline federal bureaucracy. It complicates it. And I want to emphasize it. It is clear that the administration cannot legally close a department without congressional action and moving everything out of other agencies is the equivalent of closing the department. The executive branch does not have that power and we certainly should not give up ours under article one of the constitution. So, Mr.
▶ 0:27:57Chairman, this should have been done prior to these inter agency agreements, but I urge the committee to immediately hold hearings about these actions so we can understand the [music] effects these uh inter agency agreements will have on students, families, educators, and staff. We must bring Secretary McMahon before the committee to answer our questions about this unlawful restructuring of a congressionally authorized agency. Anything else would be a dereliction of our duty as lawmakers. There's a lot at stake here.
▶ 0:28:24What message does it send around the country and the world that the United States is dismantling its Department of Education? [music] Not a good one. We must address the illegal and unconstitutional effort to close the department. The sooner the better before more damage is done. Thank you, [music] Mr. Chairman, and I yield
▶ 0:28:40I thank the general lady and she yields. Are there any others that seek [music] to be recognized on the committee? Well, well, thank you to uh each of you who are here and I would make note as well that senior staff of the committee on both sides of the aisle are here and are um taking copious notes notes.
▶ 0:29:05[music] I can see that happening and uh so um this certainly is a legitimate hearing to hear your ideas and concerns uh and uh decisions will be made as we move forward.
▶ 0:29:20Uh committee committee members are certainly welcome to remain on the dis but I remind committee members that it is [music] customary in this committee not to ask witnesses questions during member day hearings but to uh take in all that we can from your comments. And so now we'll give a turn uh the turn to the panel. I'll first recognize uh Representative Dexter for your testimony. Thank you for being
▶ 0:29:48Thank you very much Mr. chairman and vice or I'm sorry, yes, ranking member Scott, it's old state habits break hard. Um, and members of the education workforce committee, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in member day hearing and discuss priorities where I believe there is a real opportunity for bipartisan partnership to better serve working families. I am Maxine Dexter. I'm a mother, a physician, and the very proud representative for Oregon's third congressional district.
▶ 0:30:17I'm also humbled to be an American dream realized. I grew up in a working-class family where we only knew that you had to work hard and play by the rules and we found opportunity. I am only able to sit you here before you today because of the investments our government made to make my life possible. I am the first and only person even today nieces nephews to graduate from college. The idea that I could one day become a doctor was a dream that grit, hard work, and government made possible.
▶ 0:30:48Our country invested in me and people like me. I had access to well-funded public schools, safe neighborhoods, reliable transit, a union job, and affordable rent. It is painful to say, but opportunity is much less pain much less plentiful today. As a mother and a representative, I see that for my kids' generation. The American dream, it's just out of reach. I came to Congress to fix that. So, where do we start?
▶ 0:31:17For one, we truly center working families. We can't do what's needed to help them um just getting by. We need them to have the opportunity to thrive. They deserve economic stability, a foundation to succeed from, and people living paycheck to paycheck can't make that work. We have to do better. I look at you, this committee, with a hope that you will partner in making the American dream once again possible.
▶ 0:31:43Here are a few of my legislative ideas that I hope you will consider and even decide to champion with me. First, I am developing legislation modeled after an incredible multi-generational housing community in my district called Bridge Meadows. Bridge Meadows offers affordable homes to seniors, foster youth, and their families. And it's not just housing.
▶ 0:32:02Bridge Meadows builds a community with wraparound social services, tutoring, and it enriches the lives of those children who have been left behind and those impacted by both foster care and elders who embrace them and and cultivate a future with them. The Intergenerational Community Housing Act would create a pilot to scale this model nationally and gather evidence on the importance of having stable, affordable, and community.
▶ 0:32:31Second, the Healthy and House Healthy and Housed Older Adults Act, which confronts senior houselessness headon. Senior homelessness is rising at an alarming rate, often driven by fixed incomes, unaffordable rents, and unadressed health needs. My proposal would create a grant program dedicated to bolstering coordination between local homelessness, continues of care, and area agencies on aging. This would support coordinated housing, medical care, case management, and aging services for our elders.
▶ 0:33:02Another bill, the College Success Through Stable Housing Act, is a pilot program to provide stable, affordable housing and supportive services for college students experiencing homelessness. Affordable rent was foundational to my success in college and medical school. Every student deserves the same. My goal is to ensure every family has the ability to live a self a healthy and safe life in the community of their choice.
▶ 0:33:27As the only pulmonologist ever serving in Congress, I have cared for patients struggling to breathe throughout my career. I have seen firsthand how smoke, dust, and pollution ravage our lungs and steal lives steal years from people's lives. No child should sit in a classroom filled with hazardous air. And no worker should have to choose between a paycheck and their health.
▶ 0:33:49That is why I introduced the shielding students from wildfire smoke act meant to strengthen national understanding on how to protect children and teachers health during wildfire smoke events. I also introduced the farmworker smark and smoke and excessive heat protection act to ensure basic safeguards for the farm workers in our community. I am grateful that many on this community are engaged in these efforts.
▶ 0:34:14Finally, I want to associate myself with the written testimony submitted by Congressman Mor Morgan Maccgarvey about the importance of protecting our communities against black lung and silicosis. These are horrible preventable diseases that lead to higher rates of tuberculosis, cancer, disability, and death.
▶ 0:34:31I would add that we must also consider occupational presumptions for conditions like black lung and silicosis with a commitment to robust research and development of preventative um tools so that high risk occupations become safer. I encourage the committee to consider just a few even more of these issues. Thank you all for being here today and for your commitment to supporting our working families. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield
▶ 0:34:58Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. uh your time in making these comments. And now we recognize the gentleman from Oklahoma, Representative Hearn. Welcome. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I'm here to highlight an issue of significant importance to small business owners, workers, and local economies across the United States. The need for a clear permanent joint employer standard for franchise businesses.
▶ 0:35:26Franchising is a major facilitator of economic growth in the United States. In 2024 alone, franchises generated approximately $896 billion in economic output and employed about 8.8 million workers. More than 831,000 independently owned small businesses operate under the franchise agreements across the country. The franchise business model has long served as a powerful engine of economic opportunity for Americans from all backgrounds.
▶ 0:35:51According to Oxford Economics, blackowned franchise earn 2 times more than blackowned independent businesses. Hispanic-owned franchises earn a 1.6 times more than Hispanicowned independent businesses. And Asian-owned franchises earn 1.4 times more than Asian-owned independent businesses. My nearly 30 years as a McDonald's franchisee, including eight years as chair of the franchise relations on the national leadership team show me that franchising is one of the clearest expressions of the American dream.
▶ 0:36:20I've seen firsthand how essential clear labor standards and transparency are to ensure this business model continues to thrive. The franchise model is built on a simple but powerful idea, allowing entrepreneurs to go into business for themselves, but not by themselves. Local franchise owners invest in their own capital, hire their own employees, manage payroll, oversee every aspect of daily operation. Meanwhile, franchisers provide branding, operational expertise, support necessary for consistency and customer trust.
▶ 0:36:50This partnership has created generations of successful business owners. But this business model and the opportunities it creates is increasingly threatened by regulatory uncertainty around the federal joint employer standard. The joint employer standard determines when two entities share legal responsibility for labor law violations based on the degree of control one exercises over another's employees. For decades, this standard was straightforward. Two employers were jointly liable if one exercised substantial direct and immediate control over essential terms of employment.
▶ 0:37:19This changed dramatically in 2015 when the National Labor Relations Board broadened the definition. The new standard slipped franchiseors and franchises into unnecessary joint liability despite franchises independently hiring and managing their own workers. The consequences were real and significant. The 2015 standard cost franchise businesses over $33 billion annually, eliminated 376,000 job opportunities, and drastically increased lawsuits against local businesses.
▶ 0:37:46Since 2015, the definition shifted four separate times, creating severe legal and operational uncertainty for small uh business owners. In 2024, a federal court struck down the NLRB's most res expansive joint employer rule, but litigation continues. The instability erodess trust in regulators, discourages investment, stifles growth across the franchise sector.
▶ 0:38:07To provide clarity and stability for millions of workers and business owners, Congress should adopt the bipartisan biccameal American franchise act with more than 40 co-sponsors and strong support from members on both sides of the aisle, including on this very committee. The bill reflects a broad balanced commitment to strengthening the franchise sector. The legislation makes targeted modest amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act to codify a clear standard.
▶ 0:38:34A franchiser may be considered a joint employee at a franchisees employees only if the franchiseor possesses and exercises substantial direct and immediate control over one or more essential terms of a condition of employment. This standard is consistent with decades of precedent in current NB policy. The bill does not grant immunity to franchiseors.
▶ 0:38:55Instead, it ensures that actions like setting brand standards, protecting trademarks and intellectual property, or providing training materials cannot be misconstrued as direct control over franchises workforce. The legislation applies only to franchiseors and to franchises under the NLR and LFSA, not to independent contractors or other liability doctrines such as mclassifications or agency.
▶ 0:39:18In short, the AFA restores balance, preserves the independence of local business owners, empowers Americans from all backgrounds, protects a business model that contributes a trillion dollars to the United States economy. Franchising offers a unique entrepreneurial opportunity to minorities and veterans and all aspiring entrepreneurs with nearly 26% minority ownership rate and 14% veteran veteran ownership rate.
▶ 0:39:42and none other sector has done more to broaden economy stability and lift Americans out of poverty, including myself. Franchise owners are folks who take risk, invest their savings, and create jobs in the communities. They deserve a stable regulatory framework that allows them to grow with confidence. Passing the AFA will provide the clarity and fairness they need to thrive. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. And I yel back.
▶ 0:40:06Thank you for taking the opportunity. We appreciate it. Now I uh recognize the the gentleman from Kansas, Representative Man.
▶ 0:40:15Thank you, Chairman Wahlberg, Ranking Member Scott, the members of this committee for the opportunity to speak with you today. Today, I would like to discuss Haskell Indian Nations University located in my district in Lawrence, Kansas. Established in 1884 by federal legislation aimed to fulfill the United States treaty and trust obligations to provide a high-quality education to American Indians. Haskell is the only tribal university in the world with an entirely indigenous population. It is a one-of-a-kind historic and invaluable institution.
▶ 0:40:44However, and let me be clear, when it comes to Haskell, the US Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Education have dropped the ball. Years of mismanagement, lack of oversight, cycles of misconduct have all compounded and Congress needs to conduct serious oversight. The students and faculty at Haskell deserve a safe learning and working environment. I've been encouraged by the House Education and Workforce This Committee and Natural Resources Committee's oversight efforts over the past few years and I hope we'll see that continued.
▶ 0:41:12I along with Senator Jerry Moran introduced the Haskell Indian Nations University Improvement Act which would federally charter Haskell and separate them from the governance of the BIE. The federal government has sadly done a disservice to this school and one way to make this right is to put the education of Haskell students back in the hands of Indian country. While the federal government will still be obligated to provide necessary funds to the school, governance would be transferred to qualified tribal leaders from across the country.
▶ 0:41:41The legislation would open the door for opportunities that Haskell is currently not eligible for, the ability to expand educational programs and provide native students with a safe learning environment. I encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation and to reach out to my office should you have any questions. I would also like to take time to discuss another piece of legislation I along with Representative Joe Nagus introduced called the states handling access to reciprocity for employment act or the share act.
▶ 0:42:08Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are experiencing workforce shortages that are causing considerable strain on our health care system. One way to address this shortage is to expedite lensure processes for our current providers. Current law requires healthcare providers to obtain a license or certification from each state in which they wish to practice. If a provider licensed in one state relocates to another, that provider must then complete the lensure process again for each new state in which they wish to practice.
▶ 0:42:39This process is burdensome and strip providers of the ability to practice in any new state until the application is approved, sometimes taking more than half a year. The share act would make a technical correction to modernize a vital component of the lensure process for healthcare providers by authorizing the FBI to share criminal history record information between states for lensure purposes allowing cooperation between states while protecting each state's authority to determine whether a provider is eligible to practice in the
▶ 0:43:09state. This legislation extends the reach of health care professionals, improves access to medical specialists, and leverages the use of medical technologies like teleaalth. As the committee continues to work on legislation and oversight surrounding Haskell Indian Nations University and our healthcare workforce, I ask that you consider my comments today or taking into consideration. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you on these timely and important issues and I yield back the remainder of my time.
▶ 0:43:34I thank the gentleman and uh your [clears throat] message is well heard. Now I I recognize the
▶ 0:43:47gentleman from would Ohio [laughter] go blue
▶ 0:43:54that too
▶ 0:43:55uh for his five minutes of testimony represent Taylor you are welcome
▶ 0:43:59thank you chairman thank you ranking member for having me here today and thank you for the members that joined us today as well and thank you for all the hard work you do I he from Ohio's second congressional district which stretches across the entirety of southern Ohio from the Cincinnati suburbs to Ohio's border with West Virginia. My district is in the core of Appalachia and is ground zero for many of the issues facing rural America from the lack of broadband to the shortage of child care as well as jobs and skilled workers.
▶ 0:44:25While there are many issues my constituents are concerned about facing, above all they're concerned about their children's future and the opportunities they will have to move up in the world. These are valid concerns, especially as the communities I represent have lar largely been left behind and neglected by the federal government. Over the last 40 years, many towns in southern Ohio saw power plants and factories closed, jobs shipped overseas, and economic growth shift to the urban centers and the coasts.
▶ 0:44:52Fortunately, thanks to the hard work of countless community leaders, Southern Ohio is starting to make a great comeback. And there are similar encouraging stories across America. However, there is more work to be done and much of the important work Congress will do will take place right here in the Education and Workforce Committee. The policies crafted by this committee have the potential to accelerate economic growth, improve educational outcomes, and help prepare our young people for good paying jobs right out of school. As a third generation small uh business owner, I understand the value of having a skilled workforce.
▶ 0:45:22To that end, I'm proud that we passed the critical workforce PEL provision and the working families tax cut, which allows PEL grants to be used to gain workforce credentials through short-term career training programs. These kind of creative solutions are key to addressing the skilled labor shortage, which if not addressed will leave us with a shortage of electricians, carpenters, plumbers, HBAC technicians, and many other essential workers. Luckily, community uh organizations across America are stepping up to fill this gap and help train a skilled workforce.
▶ 0:45:50In my district, the United Steel Workers Local 689 has partnered with Department of Energy to train individuals on plant safety and inspection. The University of Rio Grand has partnered with Ohio Means Jobs to offer programming for in- demand jobs outside the the traditional four-year pathway.
▶ 0:46:06And Growing Rural Independence Together Project partners with countless organizations across southern Ohio to provide career I know I speak for everyone across Ohio's second congressional district when I say that we are grateful for the work they do in helping people develop a skill and finding meaning in their work. While organizations in my district are grateful for the federal funds they receive, I have heard from some of them that the requirements attached to these federal funds are too restrictive, resulting in fewer individuals being served.
▶ 0:46:34That is exactly why I'm introducing the Workforce Flexibility Act in the coming weeks. This bill, supported by numerous workforce organizations and stakeholders, would help provide flexibility to our local organizations as they seek to train the next generation. In one WA district that covers three counties in southern Ohio, they had to turn away more than 300 people from their training program due to the lack of flexibility under title one of WA.
▶ 0:47:00This is extremely disheartening as every business I visit needs workers and few fewer people are getting involved in skilled trades. There are many organizations that would benefit from more flexibility. In the end, the real beneficiaries will be the young people this flexibility will put on track to achieving the American dream, a job they can be proud of and which allows them to own a home and raise a family.
▶ 0:47:20As the committee continues to evaluate legislation this Congress and work on the WA reauthorization, I look forward to working with you to embrace more local flexibility so we can fasttrack workforce development and revitalize towns and cities across America. The changes in my bill could get more people trained, grow our workforce in rural America, and resurrect our small towns as we bring manufacturing back to the United States. I want to thank the committee again for the opportunity to speak here today, and I appreciate the work you do on these pressing issues.
▶ 0:47:48I respectfully urge you to include my workforce flexibility act reauthorization. I look forward to continuing to work with you to usher in America's golden age. Thank you, chairman. I yield back.
▶ 0:48:00I thank the representative Appreciate you all being here. [clears throat] Under committee rule nine, we would now question witnesses under the five-minute rule. Does anyone wish to ask questions?
▶ 0:48:22Well, I'll take my opportunity. Um, Representative Hearn um um I recognize your concern um very clearly uh to make sure that the the continuing specifically on joint employer doesn't doesn't [music] continue uh with your legislation.
▶ 0:48:46There are two pieces of legislation within our jurisdiction that u [music] address that that key issue. One is much broader across the spectrum of of businesses. Yours is much narrower just for Um could you care to comment on um the reason why your more limited uh approach would be necessary even [music] with the much broader piece
▶ 0:49:16of legislation that would would take take your concerns in as well.
▶ 0:49:20Sure. Um I think you know you have a broader audience and you're trying to find all the nuances with the larger bill. Um, speaking specifically for strictly for franchising, something I've spent my entire life in.
▶ 0:49:36Uh, seeing people that came from all walks of life needing the opportunity but not know if they're willing to take that risk or not with the uncertainty that happens that one day you might invest a lot of money and the very next day based on a change of administration when there's no law in place that clearly defines the joint employer alignment. you can invest all your money and then the next day become an employee of that brand.
▶ 0:50:02And that was never meant uh for the entire time that franchising's been around since you know for 70 years. It was to provide the opportunity where a brand came in whatever the brand may be. It didn't have to be restaurant but came in and provided the technical expertise to get you started off. So you didn't have the startup cost to deal with those are advertised through the franchise agreement and the opportunity to go on there. You also have the ability to go out there and look at these brands across the nation.
▶ 0:50:26And with the prevalence of uh social media and other things out there, the internet, it's very easy to monitor the behavior of franchiseors, the bad ones and the good ones, and be able to pick and choose. But that's inside of that agreement. the external pressures on the franchising and the joint employer issue that started in 2015 with the BFI issue out in California, a much broader issue, not necessarily franchising, but more of a leasing arrangement.
▶ 0:50:53Um, we're trying to define this specifically for an industry. And quite frankly, Mr. Chairman, just take that off your plate. Make it easy. Get that piece out of there. So, we're looking at a broader situation so that these men and women, these African-Americans, Asians, uh, Hispanics across America that have invested their entire life and many multigenerational franchises, uh, can have assurances that the monies and the time and the energy that they've invested not only in their businesses but in their people and in their families can have certainty that those will
▶ 0:51:23be in existence uh, come three years from now or three months from now. Thank you.
▶ 0:51:32I I recognize the ranking member.
▶ 0:51:34Uh yes, Mr. [clears throat] Chairman, following up on that, I thought I heard you say that you would be considered a um joint employer if you had one or more uh if you satisfied one or more of the measures of control. Some of the lead, some led, some bills have it set up where you have to have you're not an employer unless you have each and every measure of control. Have you compared your bills to the other bills that are
▶ 0:52:02I have not. I mean, I'm sure my staff has, but we tried to be very specific on this one so that we clearly define. I can tell you again, having worked at the highest level of leadership uh for the franchises, and unlike Congress, we didn't get paid to do it. We did it for paying it forward. uh it was a grave concern for both entities franchiseor and franchisee that there was a complete delineation between those responsibilities.
▶ 0:52:26Um McDonald's quite frankly I'll just use them as the person the group that I work with for many years uh obviously brand wellknown uh if they were going to be involved as a joint employer there's no question that they're just as it would for anybody on the dis here that if you're responsible for the hiring you're going to be in that restaurant every day as a corporation and all of a sudden it becomes a corporation if you're a franchisee of that brand whatever the brand is you wanted that push back that separation you wanted the independence of being a business person you worked your life working for somebody
▶ 0:52:56and so you wanted that delineation. So we're not trying to protect the franchiseor from you know from being somebody that's egregious say you have to hire how much you have to pay. That's the independence of the individual franchisee.
▶ 0:53:07There have been a lot of challenges to McDonald's. Has McDonald's corporate ever been ruled to be a joint employer?
▶ 0:53:17I I I don't know the legal action is taken against any franchiseor [clears throat] out there.
▶ 0:53:21Okay. I think if you're using one or more of the criteria, you may be consistent with the present with some of the um rules um that we might even come to agreement on. Let me ask Dr. Dexter um or Representative Dexter, I guess, in this context. You talked about the support you've gotten to become a physician.
▶ 0:53:48Uh are you familiar with what happened in that legislation that we that big ugly bill? How would that affect a person's ability to become a
▶ 0:54:00Yes, sir. And thank you so much, Ranking Member Scott, for asking that. In fact, I was just meeting with u members of the American Medical Association in from Oregon this week. It is going to have devastating impacts on our physician um population. you know, kids like me. I'm I was economically disadvantaged, but not racially disadvantaged.
▶ 0:54:22Clearly, getting into medical school wouldn't have been possible for me in any way without um without the educational opportunities that these loans had. The undermining of DEI efforts as well as economic support right now is going to put us in a place where white privileged people are the only ones that can take care of us because well that's not entirely true. I'm sorry for that.
▶ 0:54:52There's obviously privileged people of color. But
▶ 0:54:54people that can write a $50,000 check.
▶ 0:54:57Yes. I It's not even $50,000. Most are graduating with $200 to $300,000.
▶ 0:55:02They can get through because they had access to the loans. If those loans are limited and you don't have access to the loans, what chance does a person who relied on those loans, what chance would they have of becoming a physician?
▶ 0:55:15It's not just that they will unlikely have the opportunity to be a physician. If they do choose to be a physician and have that high of a loan debt, they will go into specialty care and higher paying specialties. We have an extraordinary shortage of primary care physicians in this country and it does not pay enough as it is for, you know, I graduated with $150,000 in debt. Luckily, the Biden um Harris plan relieved me of that debt and I will be totally candid.
▶ 0:55:45I was paying for over 20 years and that debt was just relieved um a year and a half ago. So I would still be paying on that and I had already paid in excess of what my principal had been by this time because of the cost of
▶ 0:55:59well one of the problems with that big ugly bill is it limits the amount of loans. So if you can't come up with the
▶ 0:56:06over what you can put together in pelon loans if you can't come up it's going to be at least 50,000 maybe more than that
▶ 0:56:13you can't come up with that you can't
▶ 0:56:15I'm so sorry Mr. Ranking member that was very rude of me. Um, I am obviously passionate about this area. It's also going to put people into um, we'll say malicious loaning practices like people who really want to be a doctor will put themselves in a position where they can be taken advantage of. Um, and that is obviously not anything that we want people starting their career with. Thank you, member.
▶ 0:56:41I thank the gentleman. Any further Well, hearing none, I want to express appreciation to the panel um coming in front of us and certainly these are all issues that we have addressed. We may disagree on some of them on this committee and even at the panel, but um they have been taken Um I would like to thank you again for testifying before the committee today without objection.
▶ 0:57:12There being no further business, the committee stands