Biden administration backs off proposed overhaul of apprenticeship programs

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — President Joe Biden's administration has withdrawn a proposed overhaul of workplace apprenticeship programs after facing pushback from business groups concerned about the costs and Republican state attorneys general opposed to new diversity requirements.

The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed Wednesday that it won't be moving forward with a proposed rewrite of the National Apprenticeship System rules. A department spokesperson declined to explain why the proposal was withdrawn.

The agency had previously cited a need to modernize an on-the-job-training system that has remained largely the same since 2008. Registered apprenticeship programs approved by the federal government or states provided training and education for hundreds of thousands of workers in fields ranging from construction to manufacturing to public administration.

The proposed rule change would have required apprenticeship program sponsors to recruit people from “underserved communities," which it defined to include women, people of color, those with disabilities and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, among others. It also would have required state apprenticeship agencies to develop plans for advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

A group of two dozen Republican state attorneys general objected, asserting the proposal could have run awry of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibited race as a deciding factor in college admissions, striking down affirmative action programs.

Some business groups asserted that increased oversight and reporting requirements could have driven up costs of apprenticeship programs while other proposed changes could have reduced flexibility and participation. The proposal would have required at least 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training, eliminating an option to finish sooner for workers who prove their competence.

The decision to back off the rule change was welcomed by Associated Builders and Contractors, which has about 450 government-registered apprenticeship programs in 20 occupations.

The proposal amounted to “a massive increase in red tape” that would have made the apprenticeship system "even more complicated and less attractive,” said Ben Brubeck, the group’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs.