National Apprenticeship Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2851 To amend the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’), to expand the national apprenticeship system to include apprenticeships, youth apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeships registered under such Act and to promote the furtherance of labor standards necessary to safeguard the welfare of apprentices, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2023 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. WILSON of Flor- ida, Mr. BACON, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. BOST, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CAREY, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. D’ESPOSITO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. GARBARINO, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. LALOTA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LAWLER, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Ms. WILD, Mr. MILLER of Ohio, Ms. MANNING, Mr. MOLINARO, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. STAUBER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. TRAHAN, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 amend the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’), to expand the national apprenticeship system to include apprentice- ships, youth apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeships registered under such Act and to promote the further- VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2851 IH ance of labor standards necessary to safeguard the wel- fare of apprentices, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Apprentice- 4 ship Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. 6 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 7 shall take effect beginning on October 1, 2024. 8 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT. 9 The Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly referred to 10 as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chap- 11 ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), is amended to read as fol- 12 lows: 13 ‘‘SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 14 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 15 ‘National Apprenticeship Act’. 16 ‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents 17 for this Act is as follows: 18 ‘‘Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. ‘‘Sec. 2. Definitions. ‘‘Sec. 3. Programs under the national apprenticeship system. ‘‘Sec. 4. Transition provisions. ‘‘Sec. 5. Disaggregation of data. ‘‘Sec. 6. Relation to other laws. ‘‘TITLE I—PROMOTING PROGRAMS UNDER THE NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM ‘‘Subtitle A—The Office of Apprenticeship, State Registration Agency Approval Process, and Interagency Agreement VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘Sec. 111. The Office of Apprenticeship. ‘‘Sec. 112. National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships. ‘‘Sec. 113. State apprenticeship agencies and State Offices of Apprenticeship. ‘‘Sec. 114. Interagency agreement with Department of Education. ‘‘Subtitle B—Process and Standards for the National Apprenticeship System ‘‘Sec. 121. Occupations suitable for apprenticeship. ‘‘Sec. 122. Quality standards of programs under the national apprenticeship system. ‘‘Sec. 123. Apprenticeship agreements. ‘‘Sec. 124. Registration of programs under the national apprenticeship system. ‘‘Subtitle C—Evaluations and Research ‘‘Sec. 131. Program evaluations. ‘‘Sec. 132. National apprenticeship system research. ‘‘Subtitle D—General Provisions ‘‘Sec. 141. Authorization of appropriations. ‘‘TITLE II—MODERNIZING THE NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY GRANTS ‘‘Sec. 201. Grant requirements. ‘‘Sec. 202. Uses of funds. ‘‘Sec. 203. Grant evaluations. ‘‘Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations for grants. ‘‘SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 ‘‘In this Act: 2 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis- 3 trator’ means the Administrator of the Office of Ap- 4 prenticeship established under section 111(a). 5 ‘‘(2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘Advi- 6 sory Committee’ means the National Advisory Com- 7 mittee on Apprenticeships established under section 8 112. 9 ‘‘(3) APPRENTICE.—The term ‘apprentice’ 10 means an individual who is— 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘(A) at least 16 years of age, except where 1 a higher minimum age standard is otherwise re- 2 quired by law; 3 ‘‘(B) employed by an employer that spon- 4 sors or participates in an apprenticeship pro- 5 gram; and 6 ‘‘(C) a participant of such an apprentice- 7 ship program. 8 ‘‘(4) APPRENTICESHIP AGREEMENT.—The term 9 ‘apprenticeship agreement’ means a written agree- 10 ment under section 123 between— 11 ‘‘(A) an apprentice, a youth apprentice, or 12 a pre-apprentice; and 13 ‘‘(B) a sponsor. 14 ‘‘(5) APPRENTICESHIP HUB.—The term ‘ap- 15 prenticeship hub’ means a regional or sectoral quali- 16 fied intermediary recognized by a State apprentice- 17 ship agency or a State Office of Apprenticeship as 18 organizing and providing activities and services re- 19 lated to the development of programs under the na- 20 tional apprenticeship system. 21 ‘‘(6) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The term 22 ‘apprenticeship program’ means a program that 23 meets the standards described in section 122(b) and 24 is registered under this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘(7) COMPETENCY.—The term ‘competency’ 1 means the attainment of knowledge, skills, and abili- 2 ties in a subject area, as specified by an occupa- 3 tional skill standard and demonstrated by an appro- 4 priate written or hands-on proficiency measurement. 5 ‘‘(8) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’ 6 means the Department of Labor. 7 ‘‘(9) EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDER.— 8 The term ‘education and training provider’ means— 9 ‘‘(A) an area career and technical edu- 10 cation school; 11 ‘‘(B) an early college high school; 12 ‘‘(C) an educational service agency; 13 ‘‘(D) a high school; 14 ‘‘(E) a local educational agency or State 15 educational agency; 16 ‘‘(F) a Tribal educational agency, Tribally 17 controlled college or university, or Tribally con- 18 trolled postsecondary career and technical insti- 19 tution; 20 ‘‘(G) a postsecondary educational institu- 21 tion; 22 ‘‘(H) a minority-serving institution; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘(I) a provider of adult education and lit- 1 eracy activities under the Adult Education and 2 Family Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.); 3 ‘‘(J) a local agency administering plans 4 under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 5 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.), other than section 112 6 or part C of that title (29 U.S.C. 732, 741); 7 ‘‘(K) a related instruction provider, includ- 8 ing a qualified intermediary acting as a related 9 instruction provider as approved by a registra- 10 tion agency; 11 ‘‘(L) a Job Corps center (as defined in sec- 12 tion 142 of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 13 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3192)); or 14 ‘‘(M) a consortium of entities described in 15 any of subparagraphs (A) through (L). 16 ‘‘(10) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible en- 18 tity’ means— 19 ‘‘(i) a program sponsor; 20 ‘‘(ii) a State workforce development 21 board or State workforce agency, or a local 22 workforce development board or local 23 workforce development agency; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘(iii) an education and training pro- 1 vider, or a consortium thereof; 2 ‘‘(iv) if the applicant is in a State 3 with a State apprenticeship agency, such 4 State apprenticeship agency; 5 ‘‘(v) an Indian Tribe or Tribal organi- 6 zation; 7 ‘‘(vi) an industry or sector partner- 8 ship, a group of employers, a trade asso- 9 ciation, or a professional association that 10 sponsors or participates in a program 11 under the national apprenticeship system; 12 ‘‘(vii) a Governor of a State; 13 ‘‘(viii) a labor organization or joint 14 labor-management organization; or 15 ‘‘(ix) a qualified intermediary. 16 ‘‘(B) SPONSOR REQUIREMENT.—Not fewer 17 than one entity under subparagraph (A) shall 18 be the sponsor of a program under the national 19 apprenticeship system. 20 ‘‘(11) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 21 The terms ‘Indian Tribe’ and ‘Tribal organization’ 22 have the meaning given the terms (without regard to 23 capitalization) in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2851 IH mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 1 5304). 2 ‘‘(12) INTERIM CREDENTIAL.—The term ‘in- 3 terim credential’ means a credential issued by a reg- 4 istration agency, upon request of the appropriate 5 sponsor, as certification of competency attainment 6 by a program participant during participation in a 7 program under the national apprenticeship system. 8 ‘‘(13) JOURNEYWORKER.—The term 9 ‘journeyworker’ means a worker who has attained a 10 level of skill, abilities, and competencies recognized 11 within an industry as having mastered the skills and 12 competencies required for the occupation. 13 ‘‘(14) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 14 term ‘minority-serving institution’ means an institu- 15 tion defined in any of paragraphs (1) through (7) of 16 section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 17 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 18 ‘‘(15) NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM.— 19 The term ‘national apprenticeship system’ means the 20 apprenticeship programs, youth apprenticeship pro- 21 grams, and pre-apprenticeship programs that are 22 approved by the Office of Apprenticeship and State 23 apprenticeship agencies. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘(16) NATIONAL PROGRAM STANDARDS OF AP- 1 PRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘national program stand- 2 ards of apprenticeship’ means a set of apprentice- 3 ship program standards developed and adopted by a 4 sponsor that— 5 ‘‘(A) are designed for nontraditional ap- 6 prenticeship occupations; 7 ‘‘(B) are demonstrably national or multi- 8 State in their design, suitability, and scope; and 9 ‘‘(C) are registered on a nationwide basis 10 by the Office of Apprenticeship upon having 11 satisfied the requirements of this Act. 12 ‘‘(17) NONTRADITIONAL APPRENTICESHIP POP- 13 ULATION.—The term ‘nontraditional apprenticeship 14 population’ means a group of individuals (such as 15 individuals from the same gender, race, or ethnicity), 16 the members of which— 17 ‘‘(A) comprise fewer than 25 percent of the 18 program participants in a program under the 19 national apprenticeship system; or 20 ‘‘(B) comprise a percentage of individuals 21 employed in an occupation that is lower than 22 the percentage of the total population com- 23 prised by such members, based on the most re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2851 IH cent satisfactory data from the Bureau of the 1 Census. 2 ‘‘(18) NONTRADITIONAL APPRENTICESHIP OC- 3 CUPATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘nontradi- 5 tional apprenticeship occupation’ means an oc- 6 cupation in an industry sector which has an av- 7 erage program participant rate of fewer than 8 10 percent for each of the 5 preceding years. 9 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM PARTICIPANT RATE.—In 10 this paragraph, the term ‘program participant 11 rate’, when used with respect to an occupation 12 in an industry sector, means the percentage of 13 the total program participants that participate 14 in a program under the national apprenticeship 15 system in such occupation. 16 ‘‘(19) OCCUPATION SUITABLE FOR APPREN- 17 TICESHIP.—The term ‘occupation suitable for ap- 18 prenticeship’ means an occupation that the Adminis- 19 trator has approved as an occupation suitable for 20 apprenticeship under section 121. 21 ‘‘(20) OUTLYING AREA.—The term ‘outlying 22 area’ means American Samoa, Guam, the Common- 23 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the 24 United States Virgin Islands. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘(21) PRE-APPRENTICE.—The term ‘pre-ap- 1 prentice’ means a participant in a pre-apprenticeship 2 program. 3 ‘‘(22) PRE-APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The 4 term ‘pre-apprenticeship program’ means a training 5 model or program that— 6 ‘‘(A) prepares individuals for acceptance 7 into an apprenticeship program; 8 ‘‘(B) meets the standards described in sec- 9 tion 122(c); and 10 ‘‘(C) is registered under this Act. 11 ‘‘(23) PROGRAM PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘pro- 12 gram participant’ means an apprentice, a pre-ap- 13 prentice, or a youth apprentice. 14 ‘‘(24) QUALIFIED INTERMEDIARY.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 16 intermediary’ means an entity that dem- 17 onstrates expertise in building, connecting, sus- 18 taining, and measuring the performance of 19 partnerships described in subparagraph (B) and 20 serves program participants and employers 21 by— 22 ‘‘(i) connecting employers to programs 23 under the national apprenticeship system; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2851 IH ‘‘(ii) assisting in the design and imple- 1 mentation of such programs, including cur- 2 riculum development and delivery for re- 3 lated instruction; 4 ‘‘(iii) supporting entities, sponsors, or 5 program administrators in meeting the 6 registration and reporting requirements of 7 this Act; 8 ‘‘(iv) providing professional develop- 9 ment activities such as training to men- 10 tors; 11 ‘‘(v) supporting the recruitment, re- 12 tention, and completion of potential pro- 13 [Text truncated for display. 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