II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 793 

To establish and strengthen projects that defray the cost of related instruction 

associated with pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish and strengthen projects that defray the cost 

of related instruction associated with pre-apprenticeship 

and apprenticeship programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Apprentice5 ship Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRE-APPRENTICESHIP AND APPRENTICESHIP PRO7 GRAMS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘apprentice2 ship’’ means an apprenticeship registered under the 

3 Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the 

4 ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chap5 ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

6 (2) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITU7 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary educational institu8 tion’’ means an institution of higher education, as 

9 defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act 

10 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

11 (3) PRE-APPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘pre-ap12 prenticeship’’, used with respect to a program, 

13 means an initiative or set of strategies that— 

14 (A) is designed to prepare individuals to 

15 enter and succeed in an apprenticeship pro16 gram; 

17 (B) is carried out by a sponsor described 

18 in paragraph (6)(B) that has a documented 

19 partnership with one or more sponsors of ap20 prenticeship programs; and 

21 (C) includes each of the following: 

22 (i) Training (including a curriculum 

23 for the training), aligned with industry 

24 standards related to apprenticeships, and 

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1 sors of the apprenticeships within the doc2 umented partnership, that will prepare in3 dividuals by teaching the skills and com4 petencies needed to enter one or more ap5 prenticeship programs. 

6 (ii) Provision of hands-on training and 

7 theoretical education to individuals that— 

8 (I) is carried out in a manner 

9 that includes proper observation of su10 pervision and safety protocols; and 

11 (II) is carried out in a manner 

12 that does not displace a paid em13 ployee. 

14 (iii) A formal agreement with a spon15 sor of an apprenticeship program that 

16 would enable participants who successfully 

17 complete the pre-apprenticeship program 

18 to enter directly into the apprenticeship 

19 program (if a place in the program is 

20 available and if the participant meets the 

21 qualifications of the apprenticeship pro22 gram), and includes agreements concerning 

23 earning credit recognized by a postsec24 ondary educational institution for skills 


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1 and competencies acquired during the pre2 apprenticeship program. 

3 (4) RELATED INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘re4 lated instruction’’ means an organized and system5 atic form of instruction designed to provide an ap6 prentice with the knowledge of the theoretical and 

7 technical subjects related to the occupation of the 

8 apprentice or the instruction needed to prepare an 

9 individual to enter and succeed in an apprenticeship 

10 program. 

11 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Labor. 

13 (6) SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘sponsor’’ means— 

14 (A) with respect to an apprenticeship pro15 gram, an employer, joint labor-management 

16 partnership, trade association, professional as17 sociation, labor organization, or other entity, 

18 that administers the apprenticeship program; 

19 and 

20 (B) with respect to a pre-apprenticeship 

21 program, a local educational agency, a sec22 ondary school, an area career and technical 

23 education school, a State board, a local board, 

24 or a community-based organization, with re25 sponsibility for the pre-apprenticeship program. 


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1 (7) WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPOR2 TUNITY ACT DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘area career 

3 and technical education school’’, ‘‘community-based 

4 organization’’, ‘‘individual with a barrier to employ5 ment’’, ‘‘local board’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, 

6 ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State board’’ have the 

7 meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Work8 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

9 3102). 

10 (b) GRANTS FOR TUITION ASSISTANCE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

12 grants to States on a competitive basis to assist the 

13 States in, and pay for the Federal share of the cost 

14 of, carrying out projects that defray the cost of re15 lated instruction associated with pre-apprenticeship 

16 and apprenticeship programs. 

17 (2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

18 grant under this subsection, a State shall submit an 

19 application to the Secretary for such a project at 

20 such time, in such manner, and containing a stra21 tegic plan that contains such information as the Sec22 retary may require, including— 

23 (A) information identifying the State agen24 cy (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘State entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S793.IS S793

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1 ty’’) that will administer the grant as deter2 mined by the Governor of the State; 

3 (B) a description of strategies that the 

4 State entity will use to collaborate with key in5 dustry representatives, State agencies, postsec6 ondary educational institutions, labor-manage7 ment entities, and other relevant partners to 

8 launch or expand pre-apprenticeships and ap9 prenticeships; 

10 (C) a description of how the State entity 

11 will— 

12 (i) coordinate activities carried out 

13 under this subsection with activities car14 ried out under the Carl D. Perkins Career 

15 and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

16 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) and the Workforce 

17 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

18 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) to support pre-ap19 prenticeships and apprenticeships; 

20 (ii) leverage funds provided under the 

21 Acts specified in clause (i) to support pre22 apprenticeships and apprenticeships; and 

23 (iii) utilize, and encourage individual 

24 participants in programs supported under 

25 this subsection to utilize, available Federal 


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1 and State financial assistance, including 

2 assistance available under the Workforce 

3 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

4 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), education assistance 

5 benefits available to veterans, and Federal 

6 Pell Grants available under section 401 of 

7 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1070a), prior to using assistance 

9 made available under this Act; 

10 (D) a description of strategies to elevate 

11 apprenticeships as a workforce solution in both 

12 traditional and nontraditional industries, such 

13 as information technology, health care, ad14 vanced manufacturing, construction trades, 

15 transportation, and other industries determined 

16 to be high-demand by the State board for the 

17 State; 

18 (E) a description of activities that the 

19 State entity will carry out to build awareness 

20 about the economic potential of apprenticeships; 

21 (F) a description that outlines how the 

22 State entity will increase opportunities for pre23 apprenticeships and apprenticeships among 

24 members of minority groups, youth, individuals 


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1 with disabilities, veterans, and individuals with 

2 barriers to employment; 

3 (G) information describing— 

4 (i) how the State entity will meet per5 formance measures, and comply with an 

6 evaluation system and reporting require7 ments, established by the Secretary under 

8 paragraph (6); and 

9 (ii) at the election of the State, any 

10 State performance measures and goals that 

11 the State will use to measure the effective12 ness of the project; and 

13 (H) in the case of a State that has already 

14 received a grant under this subsection for a 

15 project, information indicating that the State 

16 met the performance measures with respect to 

17 the project. 

18 (3) APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS.—A joint 

19 team of employees from the Department of Labor 

20 and the Department of Education shall— 

21 (A) review such an application; and 

22 (B) make recommendations to the Sec23 retary regarding approval of the application. 

24 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a 

25 grant under this subsection shall use the funds made 


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1 available through the grant to defray any of the fol2 lowing costs of related instruction: 

3 (A) Tuition and fees. 

4 (B) Cost of textbooks, equipment, cur5 riculum development, and other required edu6 cational materials. 

7 (C) Costs of any other item or service de8 termined by the State to be necessary. 

9 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The State may 

10 use not more than 10 percent of the grant funds for 

11 administrative costs relating to carrying out the 

12 project described in paragraph (1). 

13 (6) PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION.—The 

14 Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of 

15 Education, shall— 

16 (A) establish performance measures based 

17 on indicators set by the Administrator of the 

18 Office of Apprenticeship of the Department of 

19 Labor; and 

20 (B) establish an evaluation system aligned 

21 with the performance measures, and reporting 

22 requirements for the program carried out under 

23 this subsection. 

24 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 

2 cost described in subsection (b)(1) shall be not less 

3 than 20 percent and not more than 50 percent. 

4 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The State may 

5 make the non-Federal share available— 

6 (A) in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated, in7 cluding plant, equipment, or services; and 

8 (B) directly or through donations from 

9 public or private entities. 

10 (d) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare and sub11 mit to Congress, not later than September 30, 2024, a 

12 report— 

13 (1) detailing the results of the evaluation de14 scribed in subsection (b)(6)(B); and 

15 (2) analyzing the extent to which States have 

16 used grant funds effectively under this section. 

17 (e) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It is the pol18 icy of the United States that funds made available under 

19 this section should be used to supplement and not sup20 plant other funds available under the Workforce Innova21 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) and 

22 other Federal and State funds available to the State to 

23 support workforce development programs. 

24 SEC. 3. IDENTIFYING IN-DEMAND OCCUPATIONS. 

25 The Secretary shall— 


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1 (1) identify in-demand occupations nationally 

2 and regionally that lack the use of apprenticeships; 

3 (2) analyze the use of the apprenticeship model 

4 in those identified in-demand occupations; and 

5 (3) prepare and submit to States and Congress 

6 a report that contains the analysis described in para7 graph (2). 

8 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

10 this Act $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

11 2025. 

Æ 


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