Sponsors (2)
The bill expands and funds apprenticeship pathways—especially for disadvantaged youth and high-need occupations—by clarifying roles and offering subsidies, but does so with open-ended federal spending, administrative and compliance costs, and program design choices that may favor larger intermediaries and exclude informal or locally tailored training.
Secondary students and young adults (including low-income, rural, and disconnected youth) gain expanded, clearer access to registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship pathways.
Students and families can get wraparound supports (transportation, tutoring, childcare assistance) that reduce barriers to participating in apprenticeships.
Employers and intermediaries receive financial incentives (including up to 50% wage subsidies) that lower hiring costs and encourage employer participation in apprenticeship programs.
Taxpayers face new, open-ended federal spending obligations—program funding is authorized as 'such sums as may be necessary,' creating budgetary uncertainty and potential long-term costs.
A competitive grant/contract model may favor larger intermediaries with grant-writing capacity, reducing access to funds for small local partners and rural community organizations.
Narrow statutory definitions and limits (e.g., requiring registration under the National Apprenticeship Act and a listed set of funded occupations) could exclude non-registered, informal, or locally demanded training programs, reducing flexibility and reach.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a DOL competitive contract program to fund industry intermediaries that expand apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships for secondary students, prioritizing high-need populations.
Introduced January 23, 2025 by Martin Heinrich · Last progress January 23, 2025
Creates a Department of Labor competitive contract program to pay industry intermediaries to develop and expand apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships for secondary school students. Contracts, done with input from the Department of Education, prioritize high-need populations and may pay for recruitment, training, wraparound supports, equipment, and up to half of an apprentice’s wages. The law defines key terms and ties program definitions to existing federal statutes and authorizes whatever sums are necessary to carry out the program.