Current federal workforce laws, written in 1998, have been overdue for reauthorization for more than ten years Read more

Both parties hailed a new workforce bill unveiled Wednesday as a win as they try to build momentum to get it passed in both chambers this year. Advocates, however, cautioned that — while any bill is better than no bill — Congress’ stab at modernizing workforce policy doesn’t go far enough. “We’ve got a situation where the House and Senate are coming from such different perspectives,” said Jim Hermes, associate vice president of government relations for the American Association of Community Colle... Read more

Last week, President Obama announced the creation of a $600 million grant program to help prepare people for jobs that are currently going unfilled. It’s good that the President is giving the issue of workforce development some greatly needed attention, but I fear his unilateral approach will be counterproductive. The jumbled, confusing federal workforce development system currently spends $18 billion on 47 different programs spread across nine agencies. Putting a $600 million layer of gloss on ... Read more

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) voted in favor of House Concurrent Resolution 96, the Republican “Path to Prosperity” budget sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan. Rep. Foxx delivered the following remarks as part of a floor speech in support of the legislation: “The CBO has warned that if we fail to address our lackluster economic growth and rising debt, our children and grandchildren are guaranteed a lower standard of living than what we currently enjoy. For the first time i... Read more

Rep. Virginia Foxx took Labor Secretary Tom Perez to task over the Obama administration's approach to workforce development programs at a hearing on Capitol Hill this morning. Recently, Foxx — who spearheaded a House-passed workforce bill called the SKILLS Act — has repeatedly criticized President Barack Obama for saying he would like to streamline federal workforce programs but has not taken action to do so. Foxx's bill would consolidate dozens of programs. She asked Perez if the president stil... Read more

The Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act bypasses the usual partisan debates about the size and role of government and simply requires federal agencies to consider the costs of their actions. Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act in 1995 because they believed Americans are better served when regulators are required to measure and consider the costs of rules they create. UMITA builds on and strengthens Read more

This week, the House of Representatives will consider bipartisan regulatory transparency legislation sponsored by Representatives Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), and Collin Peterson (D-MN). H.R. 899, the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act (UMITA) will strengthen the bipartisan Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA). “Every year federal agencies impose thousands of regulatory mandates on small businesses and local gov... Read more

House Republicans next week will call up a bill that tries to reduce the proliferation of unfunded federal mandates on state and local governments, companies and other entities. In 1995, Congress passed the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), which was meant to stop the government from writing laws and issuing regulations that come with stiff compliance costs and not enough funding. But members of both parties say UMRA only went so far and that it needs to be strengthened and expanded. "Transpa... Read more

This week brought news that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts Obamacare will cause the loss of 2.3 million jobs over the next decade. While the President’s ill-conceived healthcare law continues to have disastrous consequences for our economy, it’s important to highlight what The Congress has been doing to help stabilize our economy and put people back to work. Budget As a proud fiscal conservative, I was skeptical of the compromise Bipartisan Budget Agreement (BBA) when it w... Read more

REP. FOXX VOTES AGAINST DEBT LIMIT INCREASE Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today voted against an increase in the nation’s debt limit. “President Obama and Congressional Democrats have shown no willingness to work with House Republicans on addressing the growing debt that will be handed to our children and grandchildren,” Congresswoman Foxx stated. “To paraphrase the late economist Herb Stein, debt increases that cannot go on forever, will stop. The actions we take or fail... Read more