H.R. 9610 — Less Bureaucracy, Better K–12 Education Act

This section transfers to the Secretary of Labor all functions previously exercised by the Secretary of Education with respect to 25 programs, including Title I formula grants for disadvantaged students, state assessments, education of migratory children, programs for neglected or delinquent youth, teacher and school leader grants, literacy development, English language acquisition, student support and afterschool programs, charter and magnet schools, rural school aid, Impact Aid, teacher quality partnerships, DC opportunity scholarships, homeless children education, and insular area grants.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Labor to exercise all authorities under other provisions of law that were available to the Secretary of Education for performing any function transferred under this Act immediately before the transfer's effective date.

This section transfers to the Secretary of Labor all personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations connected to functions transferred under the Act. Unexpended funds must be used only for the purposes for which they were originally authorized and appropriated.

This section directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to ensure the Act produces no net increase in full-time equivalent employees at affected Federal agencies, measured from the date of enactment. It authorizes the Director to determine transferred functions, make incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, and funds, terminate affairs of entities ended by the Act, and certify compliance to the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on the effective date.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Labor to delegate transferred functions to designated officers and employees of the Department of Labor and to authorize successive redelegations of those functions. The Secretary remains responsible for administration of the functions.

This section deems references in federal law, executive orders, rules, regulations, and related documents to the Secretary of Education, the Department of Education, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education to refer instead to the Secretary of Labor, the Department of Labor, the Education Employment and Training Administration, and the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, respectively, for functions transferred under section 2.

This section preserves the validity of all orders, determinations, rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, contracts, and other legal instruments issued before the transfer of functions from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor. It ensures pending proceedings and applications continue without interruption, suits are unaffected, actions do not abate, and the Secretary of Labor is substituted as the party in relevant suits.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Labor to use Department of Education officers, employees, assets, and appropriated funds for a reasonable period after enactment to facilitate the orderly transfer of functions under this Act.

This section delays the effective date of the Act until 6 months after enactment, except as provided in section 9. It permits transfers of functions under section 2 or other provisions to begin on the date of enactment but no later than the effective date.