82 FR 28229 - Expanding Apprenticeships in America

Executive Office of the President

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 117 (June 20, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 28229-28232]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13012]



[[Page 28227]]

Vol. 82

Tuesday,

No. 117

June 20, 2017

Part II





The President





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Executive Order 13801--Expanding Apprenticeships in America


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 117 / Tuesday, June 20, 2017 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

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                Executive Order 13801 of June 15, 2017

                
Expanding Apprenticeships in America

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, and to promote affordable education and 
                rewarding jobs for American workers, it is hereby 
                ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Purpose. America's education systems and 
                workforce development programs are in need of reform. 
                In today's rapidly changing economy, it is more 
                important than ever to prepare workers to fill both 
                existing and newly created jobs and to prepare workers 
                for the jobs of the future. Higher education, however, 
                is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Furthermore, 
                many colleges and universities fail to help students 
                graduate with the skills necessary to secure high-
                paying jobs in today's workforce. Far too many 
                individuals today find themselves with crushing student 
                debt and no direct connection to jobs.

                Against this background, federally funded education and 
                workforce development programs are not effectively 
                serving American workers. Despite the billions of 
                taxpayer dollars invested in these programs each year, 
                many Americans are struggling to find full-time work. 
                These Federal programs must do a better job matching 
                unemployed American workers with open jobs, including 
                the 350,000 manufacturing jobs currently available.

                Expanding apprenticeships and reforming ineffective 
                education and workforce development programs will help 
                address these issues, enabling more Americans to obtain 
                relevant skills and high-paying jobs. Apprenticeships 
                provide paid, relevant workplace experiences and 
                opportunities to develop skills that employers value. 
                Additionally, they provide affordable paths to good 
                jobs and, ultimately, careers.

                Finally, federally funded education and workforce 
                development programs that do not work must be improved 
                or eliminated so that taxpayer dollars can be channeled 
                to more effective uses.

                Sec. 2. Policy. It shall be the policy of the Federal 
                Government to provide more affordable pathways to 
                secure, high-paying jobs by promoting apprenticeships 
                and effective workforce development programs, while 
                easing the regulatory burden on such programs and 
                reducing or eliminating taxpayer support for 
                ineffective workforce development programs.

                Sec. 3. Definitions. For purposes of this order:

                    (a) the term ``apprenticeship'' means an 
                arrangement that includes a paid-work component and an 
                educational or instructional component, wherein an 
                individual obtains workplace-relevant knowledge and 
                skills; and
                    (b) the term ``job training programs'' means 
                Federal programs designed to promote skills development 
                or workplace readiness and increase the earnings or 
                employability of workers, but does not include Federal 
                student aid or student loan programs.

                Sec. 4. Establishing Industry-Recognized 
                Apprenticeships. (a) The Secretary of Labor 
                (Secretary), in consultation with the Secretaries of 
                Education and Commerce, shall consider proposing 
                regulations, consistent with applicable law, including 
                29 U.S.C. 50, that promote the development of 
                apprenticeship programs by third parties. These third 
                parties may include trade and industry groups, 
                companies, non-profit organizations, unions, and joint 
                labor-management organizations. To the extent permitted 
                by law and supported by sound

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                policy, any such proposed regulations shall reflect an 
                assessment of whether to:

(i) determine how qualified third parties may provide recognition to high-
quality apprenticeship programs (industry-recognized apprenticeship 
programs);

(ii) establish guidelines or requirements that qualified third parties 
should or must follow to ensure that apprenticeship programs they recognize 
meet quality standards;

(iii) provide that any industry-recognized apprenticeship program may be 
considered for expedited and streamlined registration under the registered 
apprenticeship program the Department of Labor administers;

(iv) retain the existing processes for registering apprenticeship programs 
for employers who continue using this system; and

(v) establish review processes, consistent with applicable law, for 
considering whether to:

  (A) deny the expedited and streamlined registration under the Department 
of Labor's registered apprenticeship program, referred to in subsection 
(a)(iii) of this section, in any sector in which Department of Labor 
registered apprenticeship programs are already effective and substantially 
widespread; and

  (B) terminate the registration of an industry-recognized apprenticeship 
program recognized by a qualified third party, as appropriate.

                    (b) The Secretary shall consider and evaluate 
                public comments on any regulations proposed under 
                subsection (a) of this section before issuing any final 
                regulations.

                Sec. 5. Funding to Promote Apprenticeships. Subject to 
                available appropriations and consistent with applicable 
                law, including 29 U.S.C. 3224a, the Secretary shall use 
                available funding to promote apprenticeships, focusing 
                in particular on expanding access to and participation 
                in apprenticeships among students at accredited 
                secondary and post-secondary educational institutions, 
                including community colleges; expanding the number of 
                apprenticeships in sectors that do not currently have 
                sufficient apprenticeship opportunities; and expanding 
                youth participation in apprenticeships.

                Sec. 6. Expanding Access to Apprenticeships. The 
                Secretaries of Defense, Labor, and Education, and the 
                Attorney General, shall, in consultation with each 
                other and consistent with applicable law, promote 
                apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships for America's 
                high school students and Job Corps participants, for 
                persons currently or formerly incarcerated, for persons 
                not currently attending high school or an accredited 
                post-secondary educational institution, and for members 
                of America's armed services and veterans. The 
                Secretaries of Commerce and Labor shall promote 
                apprenticeships to business leaders across critical 
                industry sectors, including manufacturing, 
                infrastructure, cybersecurity, and health care.

                Sec. 7. Promoting Apprenticeship Programs at Colleges 
                and Universities. The Secretary of Education shall, 
                consistent with applicable law, support the efforts of 
                community colleges and 2-year and 4-year institutions 
                of higher education to incorporate apprenticeship 
                programs into their courses of study.

                Sec. 8. Establishment of the Task Force on 
                Apprenticeship Expansion. (a) The Secretary shall 
                establish in the Department of Labor a Task Force on 
                Apprenticeship Expansion.

                    (b) The mission of the Task Force shall be to 
                identify strategies and proposals to promote 
                apprenticeships, especially in sectors where 
                apprenticeship programs are insufficient. The Task 
                Force shall submit to the President a report on these 
                strategies and proposals, including:

(i) Federal initiatives to promote apprenticeships;

(ii) administrative and legislative reforms that would facilitate the 
formation and success of apprenticeship programs;

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(iii) the most effective strategies for creating industry-recognized 
apprenticeships; and

(iv) the most effective strategies for amplifying and encouraging private-
sector initiatives to promote apprenticeships.

                    (c) The Department of Labor shall provide 
                administrative support and funding for the Task Force, 
                to the extent permitted by law and subject to 
                availability of appropriations.
                    (d) The Secretary shall serve as Chair of the Task 
                Force. The Secretaries of Education and Commerce shall 
                serve as Vice-Chairs of the Task Force. The Secretary 
                shall appoint the other members of the Task Force, 
                which shall consist of no more than twenty individuals 
                who work for or represent the perspectives of American 
                companies, trade or industry groups, educational 
                institutions, and labor unions, and such other persons 
                as the Secretary may from time to time designate.
                    (e) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 
                as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), may apply to the Task 
                Force, any functions of the President under that Act, 
                except for those of reporting to the Congress, shall be 
                performed by the Chair, in accordance with guidelines 
                issued by the Administrator of General Services.
                    (f) Members of the Task Force shall serve without 
                additional compensation for their work on the Task 
                Force, but shall be allowed travel expenses, including 
                per diem in lieu of subsistence, to the extent 
                permitted by law for persons serving intermittently in 
                the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707), consistent 
                with the availability of funds.
                    (g) A member of the Task Force may designate a 
                senior member of his or her organization to attend any 
                Task Force meeting.
                    (h) The Task Force shall terminate 30 days after it 
                submits its report to the President.

                Sec. 9. Excellence in Apprenticeships. Not later than 2 
                years after the date of this order, the Secretary 
                shall, consistent with applicable law, and in 
                consultation with the Secretaries of Education and 
                Commerce, establish an Excellence in Apprenticeship 
                Program to solicit voluntary information for purposes 
                of recognizing, by means of a commendation, efforts by 
                employers, trade or industry associations, unions, or 
                joint labor-management organizations to implement 
                apprenticeship programs.

                Sec. 10. Improving the Effectiveness of Workforce 
                Development Programs. (a) Concurrent with its budget 
                submission to the Director of the Office of Management 
                and Budget (OMB), the head of each agency shall submit 
                a list of programs, if any, administered by their 
                agency that are designed to promote skills development 
                and workplace readiness. For such programs, agencies 
                shall provide information on:

(i) evaluations of any relevant data pertaining to their effectiveness 
(including their employment outcomes);

(ii) recommendations for administrative and legislative reforms that would 
improve their outcomes and effectiveness for American workers and 
employers; and

(iii) recommendations to eliminate those programs that are ineffective, 
redundant, or unnecessary.

                    (b) The Director of OMB shall consider the 
                information provided by agencies in subsection (a) of 
                this section in developing the President's Fiscal Year 
                2019 Budget.
                    (c) The head of each agency administering one or 
                more job training programs shall order, subject to 
                available appropriations and consistent with applicable 
                law, an empirically rigorous evaluation of the 
                effectiveness of such programs, unless such an analysis 
                has been recently conducted. When feasible, these 
                evaluations shall be conducted by third-party 
                evaluators using the most rigorous methods appropriate 
                and feasible for the program, with preference given to 
                multi-site randomized controlled trials.

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                    (d) The Director of OMB shall provide guidance to 
                agencies on how to fulfill their obligations under this 
                section.

                Sec. 11. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary, 
administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    June 15, 2017.

[FR Doc. 2017-13012
Filed 6-19-17; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P