II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1213 To require the Secretary of Labor to implement the industry-recognized apprenticeship program process, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, and Mr. TUBERVILLE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To require the Secretary of Labor to implement the industry- recognized apprenticeship program process, 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. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Training America’s 4 Workforce Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1213.IS S1213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1213 IS SEC. 2. INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED APPRENTICESHIP PRO- 1 GRAMS. 2 The Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as 3 the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 4 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating section 4 as section 5; and 6 (2) by inserting after section 3 the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 4. INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED APPRENTICESHIP PRO- 8 GRAMS. 9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(1) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED APPRENTICESHIP 11 PROGRAM.—The term ‘industry-recognized appren- 12 ticeship program’— 13 ‘‘(A) means a high-quality, competency- 14 based apprenticeship program that is— 15 ‘‘(i) recognized by a standards rec- 16 ognition entity; and 17 ‘‘(ii) developed or delivered by an enti- 18 ty such as a trade or industry group, cor- 19 poration, nonprofit organization, institu- 20 tion of higher education, labor organiza- 21 tion, or labor-management organization 22 (among other entities, as determined ap- 23 propriate by the Secretary); and 24 ‘‘(B) may include a program that meets 25 the requirements of subparagraph (A) and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1213.IS S1213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1213 IS trains apprentices to perform construction ac- 1 tivities. 2 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 3 the Secretary of Labor. 4 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS RECOGNITION ENTITY.—The 5 term ‘standards recognition entity’ means a private 6 sector or public sector entity that— 7 ‘‘(A) is recognized by the Secretary (acting 8 through the Administrator of the Office of Ap- 9 prenticeship of the Department of Labor) for 10 purposes of recognizing apprenticeship pro- 11 grams as industry-recognized apprenticeship 12 programs; 13 ‘‘(B) has a demonstrated ability to ensure 14 an industry-recognized apprenticeship program 15 meets the standards described in subsection (d); 16 and 17 ‘‘(C) has the capacity to perform the over- 18 sight necessary to ensure the ongoing compli- 19 ance of an industry-recognized apprenticeship 20 program with such standards. 21 ‘‘(b) RECOGNITION OF INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED AP- 22 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—By not later than 1 year 24 after the date of enactment of the Training Amer- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1213.IS S1213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1213 IS ica’s Workforce Act, the Secretary, after consulta- 1 tion with private sector industry associations, insti- 2 tutions of higher education, State, local, and Tribal 3 governmental agencies, and other stakeholders the 4 Secretary determines appropriate, shall establish a 5 process to recognize entities as standards recognition 6 entities for purposes of recognizing industry-recog- 7 nized apprenticeship programs under this Act. 8 ‘‘(2) LIMITED DISCRETION.—The Secretary 9 shall not deny recognition as a standards recognition 10 entity to a private sector or public sector entity that 11 meets the requirements of subparagraphs (B) and 12 (C) of subsection (a)(3) and satisfactorily completes 13 the process established under paragraph (1). 14 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE FLEXIBILITY.—The Sec- 15 retary shall ensure that the recognition process for 16 standards recognition entities established under 17 paragraph (1) is a flexible process with low adminis- 18 trative and reporting burdens for the standards rec- 19 ognition entities and industry-recognized apprentice- 20 ship programs. 21 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The recognition process of 22 standards recognition entities and the activities and proce- 23 dures carried out by the standards recognition entities 24 shall, to the maximum extent practicable and except as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1213.IS S1213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1213 IS otherwise explicitly provided in this section, be consistent 1 with the requirements, activities, and procedures under 2 subpart B of part 29 of title 29, Code of Federal Regula- 3 tions, as such subpart was in effect on May 11, 2020. 4 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.—Each standards recognition enti- 5 ty shall establish standards for the industry-recognized ap- 6 prenticeship programs recognized by the entity that, at a 7 minimum, ensure that each industry-recognized appren- 8 ticeship program— 9 ‘‘(1) includes— 10 ‘‘(A) paid work; 11 ‘‘(B) on-the-job learning; 12 ‘‘(C) a mentorship component; 13 ‘‘(D) education and classroom instruction; 14 ‘‘(E) a written training plan and appren- 15 ticeship agreement; and 16 ‘‘(F) safety and supervision components; 17 and 18 ‘‘(2) provides, during participation in or upon 19 completion of the apprenticeship, an industry-recog- 20 nized credential. 21 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 22 tion shall be construed as affecting apprenticeship pro- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1213.IS S1213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1213 IS grams registered under this Act and recognized by the 1 Secretary.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1213.IS S1213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS