II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3768 

To require the Secretary of Labor to implement the industry-recognized 

apprenticeship program process, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2022 

Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Labor to implement the industryrecognized apprenticeship program process, 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 ‘‘Training America’s 

5 Workforce Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED APPRENTICESHIP PRO2 GRAMS. 

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

4 the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 

5 63; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating section 4 as section 5; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 4. INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED APPRENTICESHIP PRO9 GRAMS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED APPRENTICESHIP

12 PROGRAM.—The term ‘industry-recognized appren13 ticeship program’— 

14 ‘‘(A) means a high-quality, competency15 based apprenticeship program that is— 

16 ‘‘(i) recognized by a standards rec17 ognition entity; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) developed or delivered by an enti19 ty such as a trade or industry group, cor20 poration, nonprofit organization, institu21 tion of higher education, labor organiza22 tion, or labor-management organization 

23 (among other entities, as determined ap24 propriate by the Secretary); and 

25 ‘‘(B) may include a program that meets 

26 the requirements of subparagraph (A) and 


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1 trains apprentices to perform construction ac2 tivities. 

3 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

4 the Secretary of Labor. 

5 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS RECOGNITION ENTITY.—The 

6 term ‘standards recognition entity’ means a private 

7 sector or public sector entity that— 

8 ‘‘(A) is recognized by the Secretary (acting 

9 through the Administrator of the Office of Ap10 prenticeship of the Department of Labor) for 

11 purposes of recognizing apprenticeship pro12 grams as industry-recognized apprenticeship 

13 programs; 

14 ‘‘(B) has a demonstrated ability to ensure 

15 an industry-recognized apprenticeship program 

16 meets the standards described in subsection (d); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(C) has the capacity to perform the over19 sight necessary to ensure the ongoing compli20 ance of an industry-recognized apprenticeship 

21 program with such standards. 

22 ‘‘(b) RECOGNITION OF INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED AP23 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—By not later than 1 year 

25 after the date of enactment of the Training AmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Mar 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3768.IS S3768

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1 ica’s Workforce Act, the Secretary, after consulta2 tion with private sector industry associations, insti3 tutions of higher education, State, local, and Tribal 

4 governmental agencies, and other stakeholders the 

5 Secretary determines appropriate, shall establish a 

6 process to recognize entities as standards recognition 

7 entities for purposes of recognizing industry-recog8 nized apprenticeship programs under this Act. 

9 ‘‘(2) LIMITED DISCRETION.—The Secretary 

10 shall not deny recognition as a standards recognition 

11 entity to a private sector or public sector entity that 

12 meets the requirements of subparagraphs (B) and 

13 (C) of subsection (a)(3) and satisfactorily completes 

14 the process established under paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE FLEXIBILITY.—The Sec16 retary shall ensure that the recognition process for 

17 standards recognition entities established under 

18 paragraph (1) is a flexible process with low adminis19 trative and reporting burdens for the standards rec20 ognition entities and industry-recognized apprentice21 ship programs. 

22 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The recognition process of 

23 standards recognition entities and the activities and proce24 dures carried out by the standards recognition entities 

25 shall, to the maximum extent practicable and except as 


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1 otherwise explicitly provided in this section, be consistent 

2 with the requirements, activities, and procedures under 

3 subpart B of part 29 of title 29, Code of Federal Regula4 tions, as such subpart was in effect on May 11, 2020. 

5 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.—Each standard recognition entity 

6 shall establish standards for the industry-recognized ap7 prenticeship programs recognized by the entity that, at a 

8 minimum, ensure that each industry-recognized appren9 ticeship program— 

10 ‘‘(1) includes— 

11 ‘‘(A) paid work; 

12 ‘‘(B) on-the-job learning; 

13 ‘‘(C) a mentorship component; 

14 ‘‘(D) education and classroom instruction; 

15 ‘‘(E) a written training plan and appren16 ticeship agreement; and 

17 ‘‘(F) safety and supervision components; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(2) provides, during participation in or upon 

20 completion of the apprenticeship, an industry-recog21 nized credential. 

22 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec23 tion shall be construed as affecting apprenticeship proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Mar 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3768.IS S3768

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1 grams registered under this Act and recognized by the 

2 Secretary of Labor.’’. 

Æ 


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