John Mannion Questions Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer About Expanding Apprenticeship Programs

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During a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. John Mannion (D-NY) ) questioned Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about apprenticeship programs.

Transcript

00:00I thank the gentleman. I recognize the gentleman from New York. Mr. Manion for

00:06your five minutes of questioning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Secretary,

00:09Madam Secretary, for joining us today and appreciate the opportunity to hear

00:14from you about the changes occurring at the Department of Labor as well as your

00:19budget request of fiscal year 26. Under this administration, the country, meaning

00:25many of our small business owners and our workers, have faced significant

00:28economic uncertainty and, as a result, labor market fluctuations. Chaotic trade

00:34policy, mass layoffs, anti-union efforts, and abrupt terminations of important

00:40federal-funded programs have negatively impacted nearly all communities and

00:47industries. In your budget request, if enacted by Congress, could add to this

00:53economic distress. What is troubling is the proposal to

00:57consolidate 11 separate workforce programs into a single block grant.

01:03These long-standing bipartisan programs are critical for uplifting many groups.

01:07Within my district, we have the highest concentration of childhood poverty

01:11in the city of Syracuse and the highest concentration of African-American poverty as

01:16well. Lumping the programs together and handing the funding over with seemingly

01:21minimal targeting or accountability mechanisms puts all of these populations at risk of being

01:27overlooked and underserved. That said, I do want to acknowledge one component

01:33of the budget that I do support and believe we can work together on, and that's registered

01:37apprenticeship programs. In my work in the New York State Legislature, I more than doubled

01:43funding for a program under the Manufacturers Alliance of Central New York, and what we've seen is the

01:49transformations of people's lives as a result of that program. These programs do offer pathways into

01:57high-quality jobs, particularly for individuals without a four-year degree. Madam Secretary,

02:02your budget would require that 10% of the new block grant that you're proposing would go towards

02:07apprenticeships. That would amount to a 4% increase over the existing funding. As you've mentioned,

02:14this administration has stated a goal of one million active apprentices, which would be an increase of

02:2250% over that number. So I appreciate with and agree with you regarding this bold goal, but if we're going

02:31to increase funding by 4%, how are we going to increase the apprenticeship programs by 50%? Well, thank you,

02:38Congressman, and I know we don't know each other well, and I'm sorry we didn't get to work together, but I look forward to

02:43working with you through this process on the apprenticeship program. It is going to take hard

02:47work and investment into our private sector and public sector to grow the apprenticeship program.

02:54It is my responsibility, again, to address that workforce development so that everybody can live the

02:59American dream. We know that the skilled workforce of today is different than it was from, let's just

03:05say, even five to ten years ago. The trajectory is changing rapidly. The modernization of the skilled workforce

03:12workforce is changing and is inclusive of many things such as AI as well. So it is my responsibility to

03:19assist our market demands in addressing that. I've seen that in the private sector with car companies.

03:25I've seen it with our community colleges wanting to answer the call of what is on the ground they're

03:30asking for. With your assistance, I look forward to prioritizing the budget to address that.

03:37On the other question that you asked about, the Make America Skilled Again Block Grant.

03:43Through the patchwork of different states, oftentimes the complexity and the mitigation of getting that

03:50funding can be somewhat difficult. This administration, through the budget process goal, is to combine

03:57a lot of those grants without duplication in order to save on the duplication of the processes.

04:03But that shouldn't limit and won't limit the investment that we have in the actual workforce.

04:08It is still up to Congress to determine if that is what they want. This is a preliminary budget.

04:13I think it is a more flexible one that we can lean on and work with our respective state partners

04:19so that they can tell me how they want to spend that funding as if it's not New York or Oregon or Indiana

04:25or anywhere else. That is the goal. But it will be up to Congress to determine if that's where they want

04:31those appropriated dollars to come from. I would work with your office in assisting you as well.

04:36Thank you, Madam Secretary. You mentioned our community colleges. We have a fantastic university

04:41system in New York State. We have the largest private investment in the history of this country

04:49with Micron coming in, semiconductor chip manufacturing. That was the result of the Chips and Science

04:55program as well as a state piece of legislation called green chips. And as I look over your shoulder,

05:00I'm going to hit five seconds right on the dot. Strengthening community colleges program is one

05:06of those proposed eliminations. How are we going to ensure that our community colleges can pivot to the

05:11extent that they've already done to make sure we have these stack credentialing programs and other

05:15advanced manufacturing programs? Well, I'm glad to answer that in more detail. I know that our time is up,

05:20but I will submit that answer for you. And I will work with the community colleges and just do that quarter turn

05:25because I think it's just going to take just enough of that in order to address those issues.

05:29I've worked with community colleges and trade schools for years as a former mayor,

05:32and I will continue to do so as the secretary and answer that question for you. I thank the secretary.

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