Latest news with #HELPCommittee
The Hill
31-07-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Watch live: Senate convenes hearing on health care affordability
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) is holding a hearing Thursday morning how to lower health care costs. The hearing comes less than a month after President Trump signed the ' big, beautiful bill ' into law, which included the largest updates to Medicaid since the program began in the 1960s. The legislation's provisions will also impact patients, doctors, hospitals, and insurers, as Republicans partially paid for it by cutting more than $1 trillion from federal health programs. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the top Democrat on the HELP Committee, has been an outspoken critic of the GOP's massive spending and tax package, arguing it could cause 'thousands and thousands' of low-income and working-class people's deaths. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT. Watch the live video above.
Business Wire
30-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Senate HELP Committee Unanimously Passes ESOP Association Legislative Priorities
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) today unanimously passed a package of legislation consisting of several priorities of The ESOP Association. The two bills, the Employee Ownership Representation Act and the Retire Through Ownership Act, would mark significant changes and improvements to policy and ESOP advocacy within the Department of Labor. The ESOP Association worked closely with Senators and committee staff on both bills and strongly supports their passage by the full Senate. With unanimous and bipartisan passage of both bills, the HELP Committee is sending a clear message to the Department of Labor that Congress has had enough of the anti-ESOP bias at the DOL and is taking concrete steps to support ESOPs. Share 'Today is a significant milestone for ESOPs and employee ownership in America,' said James Bonham, President and CEO of The ESOP Association. 'With unanimous and bipartisan passage of both bills, the HELP Committee is sending a clear message to the Department of Labor that Congress has had enough of the anti-ESOP bias at the DOL and is taking concrete steps to support ESOPs. 'The Retire Through Ownership Act will finally provide additional certainty for ESOP trustees that rely upon an independent expert's appraisal that follows guidelines contained in IRS 59-60, which is both longstanding and accepted. As Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said in remarks on his legislation today, if those guidelines are followed, there would be a 'safe harbor, and there cannot be a subsequent action' against a business owner selling to an ESOP. We are extremely grateful to Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Kaine for their leadership on this vital legislation that would help undo decades of uncertainty and help spur ESOP creation. 'The Employee Ownership Representation Act would finally ensure ESOPs have a full, independent and unbiased voice at the Department of Labor that has been sorely lacking for decades, and we are grateful to Chairman Cassidy for sponsoring this legislation. We also thank Senators Hassan and Kaine for their authorship of the Advocate for Employee Ownership Act, and the changes made in the bill to include all ESOPs, not just S-Corporations. There are many reasons an ESOP would choose to be a C-Corporation vs. an S-Corporation, and the improved bill ensures all ESOP business types receive equal treatment. 'On behalf of our membership, we would like to thank Chairman Cassidy and Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for their bipartisan leadership, and we commend the HELP Committee for their unanimous package of this vital ESOP legislation'. Retire Through Ownership Act (S. 2403) The Retire Through Ownership Act, sponsored by Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) provides essential clarity on the issue of adequate consideration and will strengthen the foundation of employee ownership and ESOPs in America. The Retire Through Ownership Act would allow an ESOP plan fiduciary to rely in good faith on an independent professional expert business appraiser who utilizes the longstanding well-accepted valuation practices as described in IRS Revenue Ruling 59-60. Without clear legislative or regulatory guidance, ESOP fiduciaries have been required to operate under a cloud of uncertainty and potential liability, even when they are acting prudently and in good faith by hiring qualified, independent business valuation experts. As this guidance is currently non-existent, this bill provides much needed clarity. IRS ruling 59-60 is well understood and broadly accepted and recognizes the myriad factors a professional business appraiser should consider in forming a valuation for closely held businesses. By properly aligning ERISA with long-existing valuation guidance, this legislation prevents the development of multiple competing, or even conflicting, processes or procedures within federal policy, thereby limiting the risk of conflicting interpretations by courts or regulators. For more than 60 years, both government officials and private sector business appraisers have successfully relied on the guidance of this IRS ruling. Employee Ownership Representation Act (S. 1728) The Employee Ownership Representation Act, sponsored by HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would add two representatives of employee ownership organizations to the ERISA Advisory Council at the Department of Labor. This long-overdue addition will ensure that the voices of America's employee-owners are heard in the regulatory process governing retirement security. With more than 6,500 ESOPs across all 50 states affecting over 14 million people and representing nearly $2 trillion in wealth, the absence of employee ownership voices on the Council has left a glaring gap in both perspective and regulatory action at the Department. In addition, S. 1728 also incorporates the Advocate for Employee Ownership Act (S. 2474), sponsored by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Steve Daines (R-MT). The bill authorizes the Secretary of Labor to appoint an Advocate for Employee Ownership within the existing Employee Ownership Initiative at the U.S. Department of Labor. The ESOP Association was the primary supporter of the bipartisan creation of the Employee Ownership Initiative at the Department, and this expansion will help further the initial goals of that Initiative. Importantly, S. 2474 was greatly improved in scope between its introduction and final committee passage. The bill now includes all ESOPs regardless of their business structure as an S-Corporation or C-Corporation. This change is vitally important, as 2022 Department of Labor data shows nearly 40 percent of ESOPs nationwide (2,438 of 6,257 total), are C-Corporations. The ESOP Association appreciates the bill's sponsors working to correct this language in S. 2474. Representation for ESOPs matters at the Department of Labor and has long been a priority of The ESOP Association. About The ESOP Association The ESOP Association is the largest organization in the world supporting employee-owned companies, the more than 10 million U.S. employees who participate in an ESOP, and the professionals who provide services to them. Headquartered at the International Employee Ownership Center in Washington, DC and operating as a 501(c)6 organization with the affiliated Employee Ownership Foundation, The ESOP Association conducts and funds academic research, provides more than 160 annual conferences and events attended by nearly 15,000 individuals, and advocates on behalf of employee owners and their businesses to federal and state lawmakers.
Politico
28-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
New Senate megabill drops Byrd-offending education provisions
Senate Republicans made a series of changes to the education portion of President Donald Trump's domestic policy megabill that maneuver around budget rulings from the chamber's parliamentarian. New bill text and summaries released late Friday show GOP lawmakers changed the rules around student loan repayment systems and lifted a restriction when doctors' and dentists' debt payments would count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Republican proposals to end student aid eligibility for certain foreign nationals and expand Pell Grants to non-accredited and for-profit schools for certain programs were both removed. Each of those changes appear to reflect the findings of the parliamentarian this week . Student loan repayment: The new text maintains the creation of a 'Repayment Assistance Plan,' which would be based on income, and a standard plan, with fixed payments for 10 to 25 years based on debt load. According to the bill summary, under the new text, existing borrowers (with loans taken before July 1, 2026) would have access to both the assistance plan and the income-based repayment plan created by Congress starting in July 2028. Notable trims: Lawmakers did not include language that expanded the Pell Grant to short-term workforce training programs outside of the accreditation system and at for-profit programs, after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined the proposal would also be subject to the 60-vote threshold. Prior language that blocked doctors and dentists from having their student loan payments during residency count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness was also not included after the parliamentarian determined the provisions did not clear the 'Byrd Bath.' Borrower defense and closed school discharges: The new language would delay — rather than repeal — Biden-era borrower defense and closed school discharge regulations for 10 years. Tweaked 'do no harm' standard: The revised HELP Committee text would prohibit new federal student loans from paying for undergraduate programs where the majority of 'completers' earn less than the median high school graduate in the same state; or graduate programs where the majority of completers earn less than the median bachelor's degree recipient in the same field in the same state, according to the bill summary. Prior language applied the standard to a broader category of 'former students.'
Fox News
11-06-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' cracks down on Biden's student loan 'scheme,' top Republican says
The chairman of a key Senate panel is claiming victory against former President Joe Biden's student loan plans as part of President Donald Trump's "one big, beautiful bill." "The Biden administration was attempting to forgive student loans for people who willingly took on the loan and required the taxpayer, including people who never went to college and would never make what the person who took the loan would ever have the hope to make," Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. "So we end that transfer of that student loan on the taxpayers, and that's probably our biggest savings." Cassidy's committee released its portion of the Trump agenda bill late on Tuesday. A press release for the legislation said it "ends Biden's student loan schemes that transfer debt onto the 87 percent of Americans who chose to not go to college or already paid off their loans" and "also prevents future Democrat administrations from implementing schemes." The bill specifically takes aim at Biden's expansion of Borrower Defense to Repayment regulations and Closed School Discharge regulations, which Republicans have held up as costly policies that shift federal student loan borrowers' burdens onto other taxpayers. Various versions of Biden's plans had previously been struck down in court. The bill would also eliminate federal Grad PLUS loans, a program used by graduate-level and professional students to pay for their studies, which can be used for graduate students' entire cost of attendance. It would instead keep in place a $20,500 annual limit for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans on graduate degrees, capped at $100,000 total, excluding undergraduate loans. For professional degrees, it keeps a $50,000 annual unsubsidized loan limit and a $200,000 total cap. The legislation is also aimed at cracking down on taxpayer funding subsidizing degrees from lower-performing universities. Colleges that see people with undergraduate degrees earn less than the typical high school graduate in their state, or graduate programs where attendees then earn less than the normal bachelor's recipient, would be blocked from federal student loan programs. "What we've got was a situation where people can borrow more money than they can effectively pay back, and that destroys their life, leaving them with a debt burden which keeps them unable to do other things in life. And there's at least some sense that universities offering these programs know that's the case. And so we attempt to fix that," Cassidy said. "So we have provisions that would say that if the degree being acquired does not end up paying more, the person receiving that degree doesn't get more on average than a person who did not get that degree, then the federal government is not going to lend them money." To encourage more people to pursue non-collegiate degrees, the bill would also establish a Workforce Pell Grant. Pell Grants are currently aimed at low-income students pursuing bachelor's degrees and are generally not repaid. "For example, a student gets a commercial driver's license. They're going to go out and make $100,000 a year after a couple of years of driving, I am told. And so we want to enable those people to accomplish that," Cassidy said. Foreign income would be taken into account when evaluating Pell Grants, while farm and small business assets would not, under the GOP bill. Those and several other measures in the legislation would add up to roughly $300 billion in taxpayer savings, Cassidy said. Senate Republicans are currently working through their version of Trump's massive agenda bill, which passed the House late last month. Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to pass a sweeping bill advancing Trump's agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. They are also working to use it to bring down the national debt – nearing $37 trillion – with the aim of cutting $1.5 trillion in federal spending. Reconciliation allows the party in power to completely skirt the minority, in this case Democrats, by lowering the Senate's threshold to advance from 60 votes to 51. The legislation must adhere to a specific set of rules, however, including measures that deal with the budget, taxation, or the national debt. Both the House and Senate must agree to identical versions of the bill before it gets to Trump's desk for a signature. The House's version passed 215 to 214, and leaders there have implored the upper chamber to change as little as possible. Cassidy acknowledged there were some changes made but was optimistic about how they'll be met in the House. "There's several things, but one thing I think that they're going to like is that we do fully fund the Pell Grant program. You know, we address the shortfall there. And so I think they're going to like it," he said. "It's going to give low-income students access to career education. We need those kind of career type jobs to make sure that all this manufacturing and construction has a workforce to address it. And so we think it helps the needs of society. We think it helps the needs of the student." House and Senate GOP leaders had previously set a goal of having a bill on Trump's desk by the Fourth of July. Cassidy declined to comment on whether that was a feasible benchmark but argued that lawmakers should be ready to extend that timeline – and possibly shrink their summer recess – to get the final product. "As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing is to get it right. So if there is a delay, the president said it today – if there is a delay, that's not that big of a deal. The most important thing is we get it right," he said.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Springbrook to hold fundraiser next week
Springbrook, a provider of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has announced its inaugural Day of Giving, set to begin at noon Tuesday, March 25 and conclude at noon Wednesday, March 26. According to a news release from the agency, the 24-hour online fundraising event aims to raise $100,000 to enhance and expand Springbrook's programs and services. Bill and Karen Mirabito have pledged to match every dollar raised during the event, up to $100,000, the release stated. Contributors who donate $25 or more will receive a pair of exclusive socks designed by children from Springbrook's Kids Unlimited Preschool as a token of appreciation. Donors can choose to direct their contributions to specific areas, including: • Kids Unlimited Preschool playground and activities, supporting the only integrated preschool program in Otsego County; • Initiatives such as the Special Olympics Program, therapeutic horseback riding, the HELP Committee, and projects such as the accessible outdoor trail designed for Springbrook's Oneonta campus; • Springbrook Scholars, providing staff with opportunities to pursue higher education tailored to their professional career goals; • Community engagement, promoting communication, collaboration and connection within the community; • Areas of greatest need, allowing the Springbrook Foundation to allocate funds where they are needed most. Springbrook is also seeking supporters to become Day of Giving ambassadors. 'Ambassadors play a significant role by making a personal donation and inspiring others to contribute,' the release stated. Those interested can sign up individually or as a team and will receive a personalized link to share within their networks. Prizes will be awarded to top ambassadors who 'excel in rallying support.' Additionally, there will be various donor challenges throughout the day. For every $1 that a Springbrook employee donates, they will receive an entry to throw a pie at Springbrook Chief Operating Officer Seth Haight. For more information, to sign up as an ambassador or to donate, visit
