Thank you, Oren, for that kind introduction. It’s a pleasure to be speaking to the policy innovators of American Compass.
You know, sometimes it feels like a new think tank is opening every day in DC. They’re like Dunkin Donuts in Oren’s home state of Massachusetts—on every street corner. And some are more successful than others.
When American Compass first emerged in 2020, there were no doubt some critics who said it would be like so many think tanks: it would burn bright and short after its grand-opening and then disappear from the headlines.
But that wasn’t the path American Compass took. Under Oren’s leadership, and with the help of a small group of dedicated policy experts, American Compass has punched far above its weight. It has distinguished itself as a think tank that is genuinely thoughtful. And American Compass is pioneering new right policies that put American workers and families first.
I am especially grateful for their support as my office crafted the American Workforce Act, a bill which would transform American secondary education to prioritize the millions of working Americans left behind by the current system.
For decades, America has bankrolled a college-for-all higher education system that has failed our young people, stretched our families to the financial breaking point, and burdened generations of our citizens with unsustainable debt.
Nearly two in five college graduates say that they regret their majors, over 40% of recent graduates are underemployed, and more than half of graduates work in fields they didn’t study. Yet, in the past 20 years, tuition prices have risen over 180% and total student loan debt is now nearing $2 trillion.
At the same time, college endowments have now grown to over $800 billion in value—with Harvard and Yale sitting on over $70 billion. As their vast untaxed fortunes have swelled, so have their bloated bureaucracies. Between 1976 and 2018, total student enrollment increased by just 78%, while the number of college administrators ballooned 616%.
This is nothing short of an Academic Gilded Age, enriching entitled ivory tower elites at the expense of normal Americans.
While poorly serving college students and graduates, the current system also neglects worker education. More than 60 percent of Americans over 25 don’t have a four-year college degree. Yet, the federal government currently spends about eight times as much on higher education as on workforce training. And the Biden administration now wants to transfer approximately half a trillion dollars of debt from college graduates onto the backs of these workers.
The American Workforce Act would rebalance this unequal treatment and take the first step towards leveling the educational caste system colleges and universities have sought to construct.
This bill would provide non-college-educated Americans with vouchers worth up to $9,000, which they can use to help pay for employer-led training programs. Trainees would learn from employers of their choosing who offer full-time jobs that pay a wage of at least 80 percent of median household income for a given area—which would ensure that these workers get high paying jobs at the end of their training. At the end of the program, employers can earn a $1,000 bonus payment if they choose to hire the trainee.
This initiative would be open to citizens of all ages and backgrounds—from young adults looking to enter the workforce after high school, to mothers reentering the workforce after raising children, to ex-convicts restarting their lives.
Instead of dividing workers and businesses like the Democrats are so fond of doing, this legislation brings them together in a symbiotic relationship. It upskills workers, ensuring higher wages—while filling critical workforce gaps for businesses, ensuring higher productivity.
The initial cost of the American Workforce Act will be paid for by a tax on elite college endowments. Ivy league academics are fond of calling for the rich to “pay their fair share”—I’m sure they’ll leap at the opportunity to lead by example.
This summer, I will be re-introducing the American Workforce Act and I look forward to working with American Compass to get this bill passed into law.
Thank you. I will now take your questions.
