I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4048 
To require the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish 
a program to award grants for certain STEM apprenticeship programs, 
require an interagency task force to submit a report regarding certain 
programs of the Federal Government focused primarily on career develop-
ment and training in STEM, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 17, 2025 
Ms. RIVAS (for herself, Mr. FIELDS, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. LEE 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. SORENSEN, and Ms. MCBRIDE) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Work-
force, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the Director of the National Science Foundation 
to establish a program to award grants for certain 
STEM apprenticeship programs, require an interagency 
task force to submit a report regarding certain programs 
of the Federal Government focused primarily on career 
development and training in STEM, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STEM Pathways for 
the Future Act’’. 
SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN STEM 
APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS; INTERAGENCY 
TASK FORCE. 
(a) GRANT
PROGRAM
TO
ESTABLISH
CERTAIN 
STEM APPRENTICESHIP
PROGRAMS.—The National 
Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (Public 
Law 107–368) is amended by inserting after section 8 the 
following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 8A. GRANT PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN STEM 
APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the Director shall 
establish a program to award grants on a competitive 
basis to eligible recipients to establish STEM apprentice-
ship programs that are not carried out by four-year insti-
tutions of higher education (in this section referred to as 
the ‘Program’). 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible recipient that seeks 
a grant under the Program shall submit to the Director 
an application at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Director may require. 
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‘‘(c) AWARDS.—In awarding grants under the Pro-
gram, the Director shall give preference to priority recipi-
ents over eligible recipients that are not priority recipients. 
‘‘(d) PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.—As determined 
appropriate by the Director, a recipient of a grant award-
ed under the Program may obligate or expend grants 
funds for the following activities: 
‘‘(1) Recruiting participants to a STEM ap-
prenticeship program established under the Pro-
gram. 
‘‘(2) Planning and technical assistance to im-
prove such apprenticeship program. 
‘‘(3) Incorporating emerging technology into 
such apprenticeship program. 
‘‘(4) Entering such apprenticeship program into 
a consortium with, or establishing an advisory board 
for such apprenticeship program that is composed 
of, one or more private sector entities in STEM. 
‘‘(5) Any other activity as the Director may de-
termine. 
‘‘(e) IMPERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of 
a grant awarded under the Program may not obligate or 
expend grant funds for recruitment, inducement, or asso-
ciated financial or tangible incentives that might be of-
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fered to relocate an existing business from a geographic 
area to another geographic area. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘eligible 
recipient’ means any of the following: 
‘‘(A) A State. 
‘‘(B) An Indian Tribe (as such term is de-
fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determina-
tion and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
5304)). 
‘‘(C) A city or other political subdivision of 
such State or Indian Tribe. 
‘‘(D) A public-private partnership focused 
primarily on career development and training in 
STEM. 
‘‘(E) A priority recipient. 
‘‘(F) A consortium of any of the entities 
described in subparagraphs (A) through (E). 
‘‘(2) PRIORITY RECIPIENT.—The term ‘priority 
recipient’ means any of the following: 
‘‘(A) An entity that carries out an appren-
ticeship program registered under the Act of 
August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the ‘Na-
tional Apprenticeship Act’; 50 Stat. 664, chap-
ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.) 
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‘‘(B) A community college. 
‘‘(C) A minority-serving institution (as 
such term is defined in section 10002 of the 
Research and Development, Competition, and 
Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18901)). 
‘‘(D) Any other entity as the Director may 
determine. 
‘‘(E) A consortium that includes an entity 
described in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 
‘‘(3) STEM.—The term ‘STEM’ means the 
study or practice of science, technology, engineering, 
or mathematics.’’. 
(b) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.— 
(1) COMPOSITION.—There is established an 
interagency task force (in this subsection referred to 
as the ‘‘Task Force’’) composed of eight members as 
follows: 
(A) The Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. 
(B) The Director of the National Science 
Foundation. 
(C) The Director of the Office of Science 
and Technology Policy. 
(D) The Secretary of Commerce. 
(E) The Secretary of Education. 
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(F) The Secretary of Energy. 
(G) The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. 
(H) The Secretary of Labor. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the Task 
Force shall submit to Congress a report that in-
cludes information relating to an identification of 
each program of the Federal Government that satis-
fies the following requirements: 
(A) Is focused primarily on career develop-
ment and training in STEM. 
(B) Is carried out through any of the fol-
lowing: 
(i) An apprenticeship program reg-
istered under the Act of August 16, 1937 
(commonly known as the ‘‘National Ap-
prenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 
663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 
(ii) A community college (as such 
term is defined in section 4 of the National 
Science Foundation Authorization Act of 
2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n note)). 
(iii) A minority-serving institution (as 
such term is defined in section 10002 of 
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the Research and Development, Competi-
tion, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 
18901)). 
(3) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall ter-
minate upon submission of the report under para-
graph (2). 
Æ 
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