I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3445 

To amend the National Apprenticeship Act in order to increase and expand 

the national apprenticeship system to include the immediate recruitment, 

employment, and on-the-job earn-as-you-learn training of young African 

Americans, and to promote the development of equitable hiring standards 

necessary to safeguard the diversity of apprentices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia (for himself, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, 

Mr. TAKANO, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. THOMPSON of 

California, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PORTER, and Mr. PERLMUTTER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the National Apprenticeship Act in order to increase and expand the national apprenticeship system 

to include the immediate recruitment, employment, and 

on-the-job earn-as-you-learn training of young African 

Americans, and to promote the development of equitable 

hiring standards necessary to safeguard the diversity of 

apprentices, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jobs, On-the-Job 

3 ‘Earn-While-You-Learn’ Training, and Apprenticeships 

4 for Young African Americans Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Young African-American men and women 

8 are the hardest hit by economic instability. Declared 

9 and affirmed by the Federal Reserve, African Ameri10 cans face unemployment rates that are two to three 

11 times higher than their White counterparts for the 

12 last several decades. 

13 (2) During economic recessions in 1974 

14 through 1975, 1981 through 1982, 1990 through 

15 1991, and 2008, the African-American community 

16 faced significantly higher unemployment rates than 

17 their White counterparts. 

18 (3) Even during times of economic growth, Af19 rican-American communities experience prolonged fi20 nancial vulnerability and delayed recovery. Unem21 ployment rates decline at a slower rate for African22 American men, and even a slower rate for African23 American women as compared to their White coun24 terparts. 

25 (4) Affirmed by the Department of Labor, di26 versity and inclusion within the workforce benefits 


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1 employees and businesses across all industries, in2 cluding apprenticeship programs, which provide eco3 nomic mobility to its participants. 

4 (5) Through the combined efforts of building 

5 trades unions and community partners at the State 

6 and local level, there have been established more 

7 than 150 apprenticeship readiness programs across 

8 the United States that focus on creating pathways 

9 to Registered Programs for people of color, women, 

10 and veterans. Overall, from 2009 to 2019, building 

11 trades unions and their signatory contractors have 

12 invested over $100,000,000 in outreach efforts tar13 geting under-represented communities to participate 

14 in apprenticeship readiness programs. Of the 4,800 

15 individuals who have successfully completed a build16 ing trades apprenticeship readiness program since 

17 2016, 70 percent were from communities of color 

18 and 22 percent were women. 

19 (6) The disproportionately high-unemployment 

20 rates, combined with low participation rates from 

21 African Americans in registered apprenticeship pro22 grams not only constitute a national crisis but a na23 tional tragedy for the young African Americans, 

24 many of whom are fathers and mothers who, without 


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1 jobs, are unable to provide for their families or 

2 home. 

3 SEC. 3. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ADMINISTRATOR. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

5 Office of Apprenticeship in the Office of Employment and 

6 Training Administration of the Department of Labor a po7 sition to be known as the ‘‘Diversity and Inclusion Admin8 istrator’’. 

9 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Diversity and Inclusion 

10 Administrator shall— 

11 (1) promote greater diversity, including an in12 crease in the participation of individuals who are Af13 rican-American, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific 

14 Islander, or Native American in the national appren15 ticeship system; 

16 (2) engage with institutions of higher education 

17 and other education and training providers with sec18 ondary, postsecondary, and adult education systems, 

19 including degree and credential requirements; 

20 (3) employers from nontraditional apprentice21 ship industries and occupations; and 

22 (4) assist State apprenticeship agencies and 

23 sponsors in complying with the requirements of this 

24 Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP APPLICATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Office 

3 of Apprenticeship, acting through the Diversity and Inclu4 sion Administrator, shall require each entity seeking to 

5 register an apprenticeship under the Act of August 16, 

6 1937 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘National Apprentice7 ship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et 

8 seq.) to submit, as a part of the application to register 

9 such apprenticeship, a plan to increase participation of in10 dividuals who are African American. 

11 (b) RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION.—A registered ap12 prenticeship program seeking renewal of such registration 

13 under the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly referred to 

14 as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chap15 ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.) shall include in the applica16 tion for such registration a plan described in subsection 

17 (a). 

18 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Diversity and Inclusion Ad20 ministrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu21 cation as appropriate, shall award grants on a competitive 

22 basis to eligible registered entities to create or expand di23 versity in registered apprenticeship programs. 

24 (b) TARGET PROGRAMS.—In issuing grants under 

25 subsection (a), the Diversity and Inclusion Administrator 

26 shall target registered apprenticeship programs in tradiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3445.IH H3445

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1 tional and nontraditional apprenticeship industries or oc2 cupations, such as for programs demonstrating demand 

3 in construction, welding, electrical engineering, plumbing, 

4 information technology, energy, green jobs, advanced man5 ufacturing, health care, or cybersecurity. 

6 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grantee under this section 

7 may use funds— 

8 (1) to establish or expand partnerships with or9 ganizations that provide African-American partici10 pants and other nontraditional program participants 

11 access to financial planning, mentoring, and sup12 portive services that are necessary to enable an indi13 vidual to participate in and complete a program 

14 under the national apprenticeship system; 

15 (2) to conduct outreach and recruitment activi16 ties, including assessments of potential African17 American participants and other nontraditional par18 ticipants for, and enrollment of such participants in, 

19 a program under the national apprenticeship system; 

20 (3) to conduct outreach, engagement, recruit21 ment, and coordination of activities, for the purpose 

22 of establishing industry or sector partnerships and 

23 opportunities under the national apprenticeship sys24 tem, with— 

25 (A) employers; 


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1 (B) industry associations; 

2 (C) labor and labor-management organiza3 tions; 

4 (D) qualified intermediaries; 

5 (E) education and training providers; 

6 (F) State or local workforce agencies; 

7 (G) potential sponsors; 

8 (H) community-based organizations; 

9 (I) communities with high numbers or per10 centages of individuals who are African Amer11 ican and other individuals from populations 

12 that the Secretary determines to be nontradi13 tional apprenticeship populations; 

14 (J) small- and medium-sized businesses; or 

15 (K) rural communities; 

16 (4) to carry out grant requirements, including 

17 program evaluation and reporting requirements; and 

18 (5) to conduct any activities as described in the 

19 application that would advance the purposes of the 

20 grant. 

21 (d) GRANT RECIPIENT REPORT.—Each recipient of 

22 a grant under this section shall— 

23 (1) submit to the Diversity and Inclusion Ad24 ministrator a report at the conclusion of the grant 

25 period, which shall include— 


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1 (A) a description of how the funds received 

2 through the grant were used to increase the 

3 participation of individuals who are African 

4 American, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific 

5 Islander, or Native American in the program; 

6 (B) the total number of active program 

7 participants; 

8 (C) the total number that obtained unsub9 sidized employment in a field related to the 

10 apprenticeable occupation; 

11 (D) the total number of program partici12 pants that completed the program in which they 

13 were enrolled; 

14 (E) the average time to completion for 

15 each program; 

16 (F) the average cost per participant during 

17 the most recent program year; and 

18 (G) the percentage of participants who re19 ceived additional support services; and 

20 (2) submit each report under paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) to the registration agency; and 

22 (B) to the Diversity and Inclusion Admin23 istrator. 

24 (e) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 

25 term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 


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1 (1) a program sponsor; 

2 (2) a State workforce development board or 

3 State workforce agency, or a local workforce develop4 ment board or local workforce development agency; 

5 (3) an education and training provider, or a 

6 consortium thereof; 

7 (4) if the applicant is in a State with a State 

8 apprenticeship agency, such State apprenticeship 

9 agency; 

10 (5) an Indian Tribe or Tribal organization; 

11 (6) an industry or sector partnership, a group 

12 of employers, a trade association, or a professional 

13 association that sponsors or participates in a pro14 gram under the national apprenticeship system; 

15 (7) a Governor of a State; 

16 (8) a labor organization or joint-labor manage17 ment organization; 

18 (9) a community organization working in part19 nership with one or more registered apprenticeship 

20 programs; or 

21 (10) a qualified intermediary. 

22 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act, the following: 


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1 (1) EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDER.— 

2 The term ‘‘education and training provider’’ 

3 means— 

4 (A) an area career and technical education 

5 school; 

6 (B) an early college high school; 

7 (C) an educational service agency; 

8 (D) a high school; 

9 (E) a local educational agency or State 

10 educational agency; 

11 (F) a Tribal educational agency, Tribally 

12 controlled college or university, or Tribally con13 trolled postsecondary career and technical insti14 tution; 

15 (G) a postsecondary educational institu16 tion; 

17 (H) a minority-serving institution; 

18 (I) a provider of adult education and lit19 eracy activities under the Adult Education and 

20 Family Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.); 

21 (J) a local agency administering plans 

22 under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 

23 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.), other than section 112 

24 or part C of that title (29 U.S.C. 732, 741); 


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1 (K) a related instruction provider, includ2 ing a qualified intermediary acting as a related 

3 instruction provider as approved by a registra4 tion agency; 

5 (L) a Job Corps center (as defined in sec6 tion 142 of the Workforce Innovation and Op7 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3192)); or 

8 (M) a consortium of entities described in 

9 any of subparagraphs (A) through (L). 

10 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

11 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

12 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High13 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

14 (3) NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM.—The 

15 term ‘‘national apprenticeship system’’ means the 

16 apprenticeship programs, youth apprenticeship pro17 grams, and pre-apprenticeship programs under the 

18 Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly referred to as 

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

20 chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

21 (4) NONTRADITIONAL APPRENTICESHIP POPU22 LATION.—The term ‘‘nontraditional apprenticeship 

23 population’’ means a group of individuals (such as 

24 individuals from the same gender, race, or ethnicity), 

25 the members of which comprise fewer than 25 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3445.IH H3445

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1 cent of the program participants in an 

2 apprenticeable occupation under the national ap3 prenticeship system. 

4 (5) NONTRADITIONAL APPRENTICESHIP INDUS5 TRY OR OCCUPATION.—The term ‘‘nontraditional ap6 prenticeship industry or occupation’’ refers to an in7 dustry sector or occupation that represents fewer 

8 than 10 percent of apprenticeable occupations or the 

9 programs under the national apprenticeship system. 

10 (6) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 

11 The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship program’’ 

12 means an apprenticeship program registered under 

13 the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly referred to 

14 as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, 

15 chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

16 (7) REGISTRATION AGENCY.—The term ‘‘reg17 istration agency’’ means the State Office of Appren18 ticeship or State apprenticeship agency in a State 

19 that is responsible for— 

20 (A) approving or denying applications from 

21 sponsors for registration of programs under the 

22 national apprenticeship system in the State or 

23 area covered by the registration agency; and 

24 (B) carrying out the responsibilities of sup25 porting the youth apprenticeship, pre-apprenVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3445.IH H3445

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1 ticeship, or apprenticeship programs registered 

2 by the registration agency. 

3 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean4 ing given such term in section 3 of the Workforce 

5 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102) 

6 and includes each of the outlying areas. 

7 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 This Act shall take effect beginning on April 22, 

9 2022. 

10 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec12 retary of Labor to carry out this Act— 

13 (1) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

14 (2) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

15 (3) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

16 (4) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

Æ 


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