On Wednesday, acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor.
During Su’s opening testimony, she highlighted many aspects of President Biden’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2025. She stated that the budget “includes major new investments through the $8 billion mandatory Career Training Fund and a new $50 million investment in the Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness program, both of which will support the development and expansion of public-private partnerships between employers, education and training providers, and community-based groups to equitably deliver high-quality training focused on growing industries.”
The hearing became contentious as members of the committee used their time to question Su on new regulations. House CTE Caucus co-chair Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-PA) expressed concerns about the proposed regulations regarding CTE programs and apprenticeships. He said that the rules would expand federal control over already successful programs. “Just because each of these are successful on their own does not mean the Department of Labor should have any role in forcing them together through regulation,” Thompson stated.
In her response, Su replied that the intention of rules is to “braid together more connectivity,” and not to limit CTE programs.
Thompson later added that the new rules would also require new CTE apprenticeships to adhere to new “industry skills frameworks,” which would dictate CTE curriculum in violation of federal law.
ACTE submitted extensive comments regarding the proposed apprenticeship regulations back in March, and we continue to follow and weigh on this important conversation.
A recording of hearing can be found here.
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