From Associated Press News:
President Joe Biden’s administration has withdrawn a proposed overhaul of workplace apprenticeship programs after facing pushback from business groups concerned about the costs and Republican state attorneys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 A department spokesperson declined to explain why the proposal was withdrawn.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.