Sponsors (5)
Introduced September 11, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress September 11, 2025
The bill expands and funds employer-driven apprenticeships and work-based learning—providing workers, employers, and states practical training supports and performance data—while imposing notable administrative requirements, reserving shares of funding for administration, and redirecting existing fee and DHS receipts in ways that may reduce funds for other programs and concentrate benefits unevenly.
Unemployed workers, young adults, students, and low-income individuals gain expanded access to paid apprenticeships and work-based learning pathways (with post-employment supports) that improve skills, job prospects, and retention.
Small and medium-sized businesses and other employers receive clearer federal guidance, technical assistance, and program support to create and register apprenticeships, lowering barriers to hiring and on-the-job training.
State and local governments and industry partnerships obtain dedicated grant funding and multi-year flexibility to build and sustain regional workforce partnerships and coordinated training programs.
Employers, states, and grant recipients face substantial new administrative burden (complex cross-references, detailed applications, fiscal-agent designations, and annual disaggregated reporting) that may deter participation and divert resources from direct services.
Relying on existing DHS receipts and redirecting H‑1B fee revenue reduces funds available for other programs, may lessen congressional appropriations oversight, and could impose costs or funding disruptions on employers and programs that previously depended on those fees.
Reserves and administrative set‑asides (e.g., up to 8% for federal admin/evaluation and up to 5% for certain state/admin reservations) and caps on supportive-service allocations reduce funds reaching states, local programs, and participants, lowering program scale and direct assistance.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Redirects half of H‑1B fee receipts to fund state grants that expand registered apprenticeships and paid work-based learning through industry partnerships.
Creates a federal grant program that pays state and local industry partnerships to build and expand registered apprenticeships and paid work-based learning for small and medium-sized businesses in in-demand industries. It directs existing H‑1B fee revenues (half of amounts deposited into the H‑1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Account) to the Department of Labor to fund competitive state grants, sets grant limits and allowable uses, and requires performance reporting and supports for participants. The bill defines eligible partnerships by reference to existing workforce law, lays out how funds are reserved and allotted to States, limits grant awards to $500,000 for up to three years, requires 12 months minimum post-placement supports, and imposes data collection and annual reporting requirements to track outcomes for all participants and those with barriers to employment.