National Apprenticeship Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, apprenticeship programs are incredibly important for job growth in the State of Wisconsin and around the Nation; and insofar as this bill highlights apprenticeships, that is a good thing.

I was talking again to one of our programs this morning in Wisconsin, and they could desperately use more people going through these apprenticeships and making these $70-, $80-, $90,000-a-year jobs.

I think it is particularly important to get more people in the trades because we have so many people going to 4-year universities and maybe they wind up going to apprenticeship 5 or 6 years later, maybe they wind up heavy in debt. If they had made the move to a construction apprenticeship earlier on, they would be a lot better.

Unfortunately, this bill is not quite exactly what we need. The registered apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor is important. For many employers it works fine. However, it is a one-size- fits-all approach. In fiscal year 2019, over 250,000 individuals entered registered apprenticeships and only 81,000 graduated from the system.

Over the years, some employers have expressed that participation in registered apprenticeships allows the Department of Labor to dictate skills an employer must provide to apprentices in specific industries rather than allowing the business to determine that themselves. Let's face it, employers know what kind of on-the-job training and vocational education their apprentices need more than the Federal Government does.

IRAPs still would have to comply with Federal standards and would have been overseen by third parties, such as trade and industry groups, nonprofit organizations, unions, and joint labor management organizations.

Of course, the idea of the IRAPs has totally shut down, probably for two reasons. It took control of the apprenticeship program out of the hands of the Federal Government. And, quite frankly, it was an idea proposed by Donald Trump, who did a lot of good things.

Our workforce is evolving. So should our models of job training and apprenticeships.

I have also offered an amendment to this bill concerning the definition of recognized postsecondary credential. Under the bill, recognized postsecondary credential has a meaning, given the definition in the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. That definition should specifically include technical diplomas and degrees, which differ from general associate degrees. I look forward to revisiting that when the House brings up WIOA for reauthorization.

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