To expand access to apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships among certain populations, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4369 To expand access to apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships among certain populations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 Mr. WALKER (for himself, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. SPANO, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. MEUSER, and Mr. CRAWFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Armed Services, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To expand access to apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships among certain populations, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3 Congress finds the following: 4 (1) Nationwide, there are over 585,000 appren- 5 tices currently obtaining the skills they need to suc- 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4369.IH H4369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4369 IH ceed, while earning the wages they need to build fi- 1 nancial security. 2 (2) On June 15, 2017, President Trump signed 3 an Executive order to double Federal spending on 4 the Apprenticeship USA program to $200 million a 5 year, with the money allocated from existing job 6 training programs. 7 (3) Businesses from across the country signed 8 the ‘‘Pledge to American Workers’’, committing to 9 provide 3,800,000 workers with apprenticeship op- 10 portunities. 11 (4) Nationally, 91 percent of United States ap- 12 prentices are employed after completing their pro- 13 grams, with an average starting wage above 14 $60,000. 15 (5) The Strengthening Career and Technical 16 Education for the 21st Century Act was signed into 17 law in July 2018 to promote access to workplace de- 18 velopment programs such as apprenticeship pro- 19 grams. 20 (6) On December 21, 2018, the First Step Act 21 of 2018 was signed into law, a landmark criminal 22 justice reform to promote hope and opportunity for 23 incarcerated individuals. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4369.IH H4369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4369 IH (7) Former inmates often face a significant in- 1 ability to enter the workforce due to a lack of rel- 2 evant training, negatively impacting their family and 3 future generations. 4 (8) Sixty percent of the 650,000 inmates re- 5 leased every year are unemployed one year after they 6 are released. 7 (9) Congress must continue its work to expand 8 all forms of apprenticeship opportunities to ensure 9 all American workers have access to the necessary 10 workforce development tools. 11 SEC. 2. EXPANDING ACCESS TO APPRENTICESHIPS. 12 (a) PROMOTION OF ALL FORMS OF APPRENTICE- 13 SHIPS AND PRE-APPRENTICESHIPS TO CERTAIN POPU- 14 LATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 15 Labor, the Secretary of Education, and the Attorney Gen- 16 eral, shall, in consultation with each other and consistent 17 with applicable law, promote all forms of apprenticeships 18 and pre-apprenticeships for— 19 (1) high school students and participants in the 20 Job Corps of the Department of Labor; 21 (2) persons currently or formerly incarcerated; 22 (3) persons not currently attending high school 23 or an accredited post-secondary educational institu- 24 tion; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4369.IH H4369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4369 IH (4) for members of armed services and vet- 1 erans. 2 (b) PROMOTION OF APPRENTICESHIPS AND PRE-AP- 3 PRENTICESHIPS TO CERTAIN INDUSTRIES.—The Sec- 4 retary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor shall pro- 5 mote apprenticeships to business leaders across critical in- 6 dustry sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure, 7 cybersecurity, health care, and construction. 8 (c) APPRENTICESHIP DEFINED.—For the purposes 9 of this Act, the term ‘‘apprenticeship’’ means an arrange- 10 ment that includes a paid-work component and an edu- 11 cational or instructional component, wherein an individual 12 obtains workplace-relevant knowledge and skills. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4369.IH H4369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS