Supporting Small Business Through Expanding Apprenticeship Opportunities

October 1, 2020

As appeared in the September 30, 2020 edition of the Elizabethtown Advocate & Ephrata Review

Last week, the House Education and Labor Committee held a mark-up on H.R. 8294, legislation to reauthorize and amend the National Apprenticeship Act, which was first passed by Congress in 1937. In recent years we have seen interest for apprenticeships surge as more employers and small businesses are recognizing the critical role they play in the development of a skilled workforce.

The reauthorization of the National Apprenticeship Act provides a real opportunity for members of Congress and this Committee to make needed reforms to a near century old program and bring it into the 21st century. A true reform of the registered apprenticeship system has the potential to expand opportunities to thousands and make the system more effective for those it serves. Unfortunately, many businesses do not pursue apprenticeship programs due to the rigid nature of federal guidelines and the entangling bureaucracy of trying to establish a program. As a former small business owner, I have lived through trying to navigate the federal guidelines to establish an apprenticeship program, they are truly unworkable for countless small businesses across our community and nation.

As the Republican Leader of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment, I offered an alternative bill to the underlying legislation, to modernize the registered apprenticeship program, while ensuring that there is enough flexibility for other models of work-based learning are possible outside of the registered system. By creating new opportunities for apprenticeships, we can allow the law to reach the full potential of apprenticeships and help fill in-demand jobs in industries that have not previously used the earn-while-you-learn model.

My alternative legislation also would have cut down on the red-tape and allow private industry to create apprenticeship programs tailored to their unique needs, rather than have the federal government dictating every program that can be offered. Rarely is more government intervention the solution. Unfortunately, my proposal was rejected along a party-line voice vote and the underlying bill continues a one-size-fits-all approach to apprenticeships.

While H.R. 8294 is certainly a meaningful effort at reform, it unfortunately does not do enough to address the need that our country is facing. For students, job seekers, and employers looking for new pathways to success it slams the door shut. Committee members have been negotiating for months about a bipartisan way forward with the reauthorization of the National Apprenticeship Act, and I am hopeful that as the legislation continues to evolve we can strike a bipartisan balance that will allow Congress to reach reforms supported by all.