House bill · 108th Congress · Did not become law

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish a Personal Reemployment Accounts grant program to assist Americans in returning to work; to reauthorize title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965; to amend title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure graduate opportunities in postsecondary education.

H.R. 444Introduced Jan 29, 2003Policy area: Labor and Employment

Where it went

IntroducedJan 29, 2003
Committee actionMar 5, 2003
Passed HouseJun 3, 2004 · 213–203
Passed Senate—
To the President—
Became law—

Latest action: Jun 3, 2004 — Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Cost and committee reports

Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 444.

CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 444, Back to Work Incentive Act of 2003” on March 11, 2003. CBO’s description reads “<p>Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on March 5, 2003</p>”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, March 11, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/14319
CBO publication date
March 11, 2003
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 444, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/444
Record last updated by Congress.gov
March 23, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
df1523b107e2ecc8fd0a47557a5e45abefc1dc5c2f2eeb7607f7869de72dff89
CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 444, Back to Work Incentive Act of 2003” on March 11, 2003. CBO’s description reads “Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on March 5, 2003”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, March 11, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/14319
CBO publication date
March 11, 2003
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 444, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/444
Record last updated by Congress.gov
March 23, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
df1523b107e2ecc8fd0a47557a5e45abefc1dc5c2f2eeb7607f7869de72dff89
PORKER links to the estimate and does not repeat its dollar figures. Each estimate is for the version of the bill its description names; the bill may have changed since.
Committee reportCongress.gov lists 1 committee report for this bill: H. Rept. 108-35 ↗. The Congress.gov committee record lists a “Reported By” entry for the Education and Workforce Committee on March 13, 2003.
Source: Congress.gov, reported March 13, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
committeeReports
Report API records
https://api.congress.gov/v3/committee-report/108/HRPT/35
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 444, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/444
Record last updated by Congress.gov
March 23, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
df1523b107e2ecc8fd0a47557a5e45abefc1dc5c2f2eeb7607f7869de72dff89
A committee report is the committee’s own explanation of the bill. PORKER lists it and links to it; reading it is up to you.
Congress.gov noteThe text of H.R. 4444 (Worker Reemployment Accounts Act) was inserted as a substitute amendment in H.R. 444, under the provisions of H.Res. 656. Also inserted in H.R. 444, as passed House, were the texts of H.R. 4409 (Teacher Training Enhancement Act) and H.R. 4411 (Priorities for Graduate Studies Act).
Source: Congress.gov, record updated March 23, 2026 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
notes
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 444, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/444
Record last updated by Congress.gov
March 23, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
df1523b107e2ecc8fd0a47557a5e45abefc1dc5c2f2eeb7607f7869de72dff89

Sent to: Education and Workforce Committee, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions CommitteeBills with a CBO estimate Bills with a committee report See it in the Data Web

From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 444, last updated March 23, 2026. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 28, 2026 and is refreshed nightly. Open “Evidence” on any line for the record, field and file fingerprint.

Vote results

No recorded roll-call votes on this bill in PORKER’s records (voice votes and unanimous consent are not roll calls; roll-call records start in 2011).

Cosponsors

39 cosponsors — 38 Republicans, 1 Democrat

1 of 39 cosponsors (3%) are from the other party.

Richard Baker (R-LA), Cass Ballenger (R-NC), Bob Beauprez (R-CO), John Boehner (R-OH), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), Randy Cunningham (R-CA), James DeMint (R-SC), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Jennifer Dunn (R-WA), Mark Foley (R-FL), Paul Gillmor (R-OH), Mark Green (R-WI), James Greenwood (R-PA), Melissa Hart (R-PA), Robin Hayes (R-NC), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), William Janklow (R-SD), Eddie Johnson (D-TX), Ric Keller (R-FL), John Kline (R-MN), Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), John McHugh (R-NY), Howard McKeon (R-CA), Tim Murphy (R-PA), Sue Myrick (R-NC), George Nethercutt (R-WA), Charles Norwood (R-GA), Doug Ose (R-CA), Michael Oxley (R-OH), Todd Platts (R-PA) and 9 more.

More from the sponsor

Other 108th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Jon Porter.

Sponsor’s state and district

Nevada in Congress · NV-3 district

Open in Bill Explorer →

Data as of Sep 28, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.