Attn: PHCC Members & Partners:
With less than a month left in the 117th Congress, lawmakers have a small window to pass the National Apprenticeship Act (HR447), either as a stand-alone bill or more likely as part of the FY23 federal budget that needs to be passed by Dec. 16/ This legislation will become less of a priority when the 118th Congress is seated on Jan. 5, 2023, so the Senate must act immediately.
If HR447 is not passed by the end of the year, it will need to be reintroduced in the next Congress where its chances of passage will be much lower than they are now. Follow the link below to send a letter to your Senators urging them to pass the National Apprenticeship Act TODAY!. When you’re finished, share this link with your apprentices so they too can tell their senators. It only takes a minute!
Here’s why this bill is so important:
HR447 was one of the first bills passed by the House of Representatives at the beginning of this session of Congress. It reauthorizes the 1937 National Apprenticeship Act for the first time since its inception more than 85 years ago. If passed and signed into law, it would authorize up to $800 million in new apprenticeship grant funding and codify regulations written since the passage of the original 1937 act, such as mentorship and safety standards.
Passage of HR447 preserves the holistic approach of registered apprenticeship so that journey workers entering the trade have a complete skillset that will keep them competitive in the job market while ensuring a competent workforce for employers such as the p-h-c contractors represented by PHCC.
