Education Committees in the 116th Congress

As the 116^th Congress begins in earnest, new members are serving on both the House and Senate Education Committees.

Following the decisive 2018 Midterm election, the U.S. House of Representatives is now under Democratic control, with new leadership for the House Education Committee. Rep. Bobby Scott (VA) has been elected Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor (formally known as the Committee on Education and the Workforce). In a press release, Congressmen Scott stated “As Chairman, I will work to expand access to the building blocks of a strong middle class – a quality education, a rewarding job, and affordable health care.”

Chairman Scott has identified reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) and federal support for school infrastructure as priorities for the committee. On January 30th, Chairman Scott introduced the Rebuild America’s School’s Act, which would provide $100 Billion for the construction and updating of school facilities. Representative Virginia Foxx (NC), who previously held the chairmanship, will serve as Ranking Member for the minority.

Senate Republicans retained their majority and leadership remains the same on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee. Senator Lamar Alexander (TN) will continue to serve as Chair of the HELP Committee while Senator Patty Murray (WA) will stay on as Ranking Member. Negotiations over HEA Reauthorization stalled in the 115th Congress, with Democrats and Republicans introducing drastically different policy proposals. Senators Murray and Alexander are reportedly open to revisiting the issue to find areas of compromise. Chairman Alexander, who plans to retire in 2020, has expressed a strong desire to reauthorize the Higher Education Act before leaving the Senate.

In the wake of the recent election, NAfME has begun meeting with Members of both education committees on our legislative priorities for music education, including:

• Fully funding Titles I-A, II-A, and IV-A of ESSA;
• Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act to support well-rounded education subject educators, including music educators;
• Supporting safe music rooms through school infrastructure;
• Reintroduction of the Guarantee Access to Arts and Music Education (GAAME) Act.

Full Committee Rosters are below. * indicates members who are new to the committees.

Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee

Democratic Senators		Republican Senators
Patty Murray	WA – Ranking Member	Lamar Alexander	TN – Chairman
Bernie Sanders	VT	Michael Enzi	WY
Bob Casey	PA	Richard Burr	NC
Tammy Baldwin	WI	Johnny Isakson	GA
Chris Murphy	CT	Rand Paul	PA
Elizabeth Warren	MA	Susan Collins	ME
Tim Kaine	VA	Bill Cassidy	LA
Maggie Hassan	NH	Pat Roberts	KS
Tina Smith	MN	Lisa Murkowski	AK
Doug Jones	AL	Tim Scott	SC
Jacky Rosen*	NV	Mitt Romney*	UT
		Mike Braun*	IN

House Education and Labor Committee

Democratic Representatives		Republican Representatives
Bobby Scott	VA – Chairman	Virginia Foxx	NC – Ranking Member
Susan Davis	CA	Phil Roe	TN
Raul Grijalva	AZ	Glenn Thompson	PA
Joe Courtney	CT	Tim Walberg	MI
Marcia Fudge	OH	Brett Guthrie	KY
Gregorio Kilili Sablan	NM	Bradley Byrne	AL
Frederica Wilson	FL	Glenn Grothman	WI
Susanne Bonamici	OR	Elise Stefanik	NY
Mark Takano	CA	Rick Allen	GA
Alma Adams	NC	Francis Ronney	FL
Mark Desaulnier	CA	Lloyd Smucker	PA
Donald Norcross	NJ	Jim Banks	IN
Raja Krishnamoorthi	IL	Mark Walker*	NC
Adriano Espaillat	NY	James Comer*	KY
Pramila Jayapal*	WA	Ben Cline*	VA
Joe Morelle*	NY	Russ Fulcher*	ID
Susan Wild*	PA	Van Taylor*	TX
Josh Harder*	CA	Steve Watkins*	KS
Lucy McBath*	GA	Ron Wright*	TX
Kim Schrier*	WA	Dan Meuser*	PA
Lauren Underwood*	IL	William Timmons*	SC
Jahana Hayes*	CT	Dusty Johnson*	SD
Donna Shalala*	FL
Andy Levin*	MI
Ilhan Omar*	MN
David Trone*	MD
Haley Stevens*	MI
Susie Lee*	NV
Joaquin Castro	TX
Lori Trahan*	MA