Sponsors (2)
The bill broadens SBDC roles to expand apprenticeship and work-based learning—helping employers fill skilled positions and giving jobseekers clearer training pathways—while risking stretched local capacity, uneven program quality, and reduced local fit unless paired with additional resources and flexibility.
Small business owners and local employers gain federal support through SBDCs to start or expand apprenticeships and work-based learning, improving hiring pipelines, reducing recruitment costs, and increasing employee retention and productivity.
Job seekers, unemployed workers, and students get increased access to apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship information and clearer pathways into skilled jobs through SBDC outreach and resources.
SBDCs and state/local centers may face expanded responsibilities without corresponding additional funding or staff, straining capacity and potentially degrading program quality or service delivery.
Learners (students and unemployed workers) could encounter inconsistent program quality or insufficient oversight of new pre-apprenticeship programs if employer-focused promotion outpaces quality controls.
Federal guidance dissemination risks favoring nationally standardized models over locally tailored approaches, which may not fit rural communities or niche industry needs and could reduce program effectiveness locally.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires SBDCs to provide information and assistance on work-based learning, registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and job training using federal resources.
Official title: Amend the Small Business Act to include requirements relating to apprenticeship program assistance for small business development centers, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 11, 2026 by Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen · Last progress February 11, 2026
Requires Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to add new assistance for employers and jobseekers on work-based learning and apprenticeship pathways. The change directs SBDCs to use Department of Labor and other federal resources to help small businesses establish or improve registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, work-based learning programs, and job training. The bill is a short, targeted amendment to the Small Business Act that expands the list of services SBDCs must offer; it does not itself create new grant programs or appropriate funds.