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WASHINGTON, DC — Associated Builders and Contractors issued the following statement applauding the withdrawal of the US Department of Labor’s rule overhauling regulations related to government-registered apprenticeship programs, or GRAPs.
“ABC fully supports government-registered apprenticeship programs as a key component of the construction industry’s all-of-the-above solution to upskilling the more than half a million new workers needed in 2024 alone, but the DOL’s proposed apprenticeship overhaul was out of touch with the needs of employers and apprentices, and was a missed opportunity to modernize and expand the apprenticeship system,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs. “We are pleased that the Biden administration heeded the concerns of ABC and industry GRAP stakeholders and halted this unnecessarily costly and burdensome policy change, which would have restricted GRAP system growth and exacerbated the construction industry’s labor shortage.
“Feedback from ABC’s GRAP stakeholders on the proposed rule was overwhelmingly negative, with 94% of respondents stating that the proposal would increase the costs of participating in or sponsoring a GRAP and 90% saying they would be less likely to start their own GRAP as a result of the DOL’s proposal,” said Brubeck.
“Specifically, the Biden DOL’s proposal failed to fully address ongoing challenges with the GRAP system, including efforts by unions and their state government allies to suppress new GRAP approvals and restrict taxpayer-funded contracts and grants to only businesses and GRAPs affiliated with certain unions,” said Brubeck. “Instead, the rule would have reduced flexibility by replacing competency-based GRAPs with time-based GRAPs, eliminated state governments’ ability to approve apprenticeship programs for new occupations needed to keep up with the modern economy and incorporated dozens of expensive new recordkeeping and administrative requirements. Overall, this rule would have cost the regulated community more than $1.3 billion over the next 10 years, according to the DOL’s own flawed and stunningly lowballed regulatory cost analysis.
“The current apprenticeship system is in need of improvement,” said Brubeck. “ABC’s analysis of government data indicates that GRAPs are struggling to meet the construction industry’s workforce needs, with just 250,000 apprentice participants and 45,000 apprentice graduates in fiscal year 2023. The withdrawal of the rule may present an opportunity for the incoming Trump administration to build a stronger GRAP system for the construction industry that will prioritize developing the workforce needed to complete critical infrastructure projects across the nation.”
On March 18, ABC submitted more than 40 pages of comments on the DOL’s controversial proposed rule, urging the DOL to withdraw the illegal and misguided provisions of the proposal.
“ABC and its chapters are educating craft, safety and management professionals in construction using innovative and flexible learning models like just-in-time task training, competency-based progression and work-based learning, in addition to more than 450 federal and state GRAPs in over 20 occupations across America, in order to develop a safe, skilled and productive workforce,” said John Mielke, ABC Senior Director of Apprenticeship.
Learn more at abc.org/apprenticeship.