ABC Supports Trump Administration’s Critical Improvements to Apprenticeship Programs

WASHINGTON, March 11-Associated Builders and Contractors issued the following statement from its vice president of government affairs, Kristen Swearingen, on the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration announcing four new guidance documents seeking to improve the implementation of registered apprenticeship programs, or RAPS:

"ABC strongly supports the DOL's bold new approach to addressing longstanding concerns with registered apprenticeship programs by improving flexibility for program sponsors and employers, as well as addressing state policies that impair worker access to these high-quality training programs. These policies align with our consistent advocacy for simplification of unnecessarily burdensome apprenticeship regulations, and ABC thanks the DOL for taking steps to implement our recommendations.

"ABC champions RAPs as one piece of an all-of-the-above solution to workforce development needs to solve the construction industry's demand, including a shortage of 349,000 workers in 2026 alone. ABC chapters offer more than 450 RAPs in more than 20 different occupations across America.

"Continuing to make improvements to the RAP system will be critical to achieving President Donald Trump's ambitious and timely goal of achieving 1 million new active apprentices, as laid out in Executive Order 14278 and America's Talent Strategy. ABC looks forward to continuing to work with President Trump's administration on this important issue."