U.S. Senate Democrats announced Sept. 9, 2009, that Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa will take over chairmanship of the influential Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, replacing the recently deceased Sen. Edward Kennedy.
“Sen. Harkin has been a tireless advocate for working Americans and families,” said U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in a statement on Harkin’s chairmanship. “He has been on the front lines of the most critical issues of our times relating to employment, retirement, health care and education. I have no doubt he will carry the torch ignited by his predecessor, Sen. Edward Kennedy, and spur the committee’s work forward to new heights,” she said.
The ascension of Harkin comes at a critical juncture, as the HELP Committee is in the thick of the wildly contentious health care reform debate.
A liberal Democrat, Harkin will be just as ardent a fighter as Kennedy on passing health care reform legislation. He has stated that he supports eliminating exemptions for pre-existing conditions, guaranteed policy renewal, youth coverage through their parents until age 26, free preventive screenings and no lifetime caps on benefits.
While Harkin has said he is open to compromise, he said one proposed alternative to the public health insurance option—local cooperatives—might not be sufficient. In addition, he isn’t convinced by a trigger mechanism that would allow a person to get government insurance if private insurance options are deemed unaffordable.
“I think we’re still going to see runaway profits by the insurance companies, and it’s going to be to the detriment of our families who want health care and want it affordable and want full coverage,” Harkin said. “A public option has to be a part of this bill.”
Harkin supports tax credits for employers that provide wellness and prevention programs to their employees.
Another priority for the senator is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), also known as the “card check” bill. An original co-sponsor of EFCA, which would make it easier for unions to organize, Harkin has been in deep negotiations for months with other senators, trying to put together a compromise that can pass the Senate.
Harkin chairs the Appropriation subcommittee that writes the budget for the departments of Health & Human Services, Education, and Labor, giving him great influence over key parts of the domestic agenda.
His most significant legislative achievement was writing and sponsoring the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
Under seniority rules, Acting Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., was next in line to chair the HELP Committee, but chose instead to remain chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Harkin, next in line after Dodd, assumed the HELP panel chairmanship on Sept. 9, 2009, vacating his post as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Roy Maurer is a staff writer for SHRM.