White House, Senators Highlight Apprenticeships

By: Michael Rose

Bloomberg

The White House April 21 announced the availability of $90 million in grants to expand apprenticeship programs, as a bipartisan pair of senators said they were working on legislation to strengthen them. The $90 million will be divided between $60 million for states to develop “strategies” to expand apprenticeships, and $30 million for employers and other organizations to begin or expand apprenticeship programs and increase diversity within them, according to a White House fact sheet.

Meanwhile, at a separate Capitol Hill event sponsored by the National Governors Association, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) both said they were working on legislation to strengthen apprenticeships and were committed to a bipartisan approach. Murray pointed to a measure she introduced in 2014, the Promoting Apprenticeships for Credentials and Employment Act, which would serve as the foundation for a bill she hoped to introduce soon. The bill “would invest in apprenticeships and increase the number of skilled workers in growing sectors, like health care,” Murray said. “I have been working hard to strengthen the legislation and gain strong bipartisan support in the Senate.”

Hatch also acknowledged that he was working with Murray on an apprenticeship bill. He said apprenticeships “currently operate without congressional oversight, creating an environment that encourages executive overreach and hampers economic growth.”Hatch said he was “working with Senator Murray and colleagues from both sides of the aisle to create a transformative bill that will not only promote apprenticeships but will take necessary steps to reform the outdated registered apprenticeship program.” Murray said she hoped the bill would be taken up by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, of which she is the ranking Democratic member, “in the near future.”

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