Bellows bill gives support to Maine Apprenticeship Program

A bill sponsored by Sen. Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester, would make technical changes to state law so Maine can continue receiving federal funding for the Maine Apprenticeship Program. LD 1912, “An Act To Conform the Maine Apprenticeship Program to the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972,” was the subject of a public hearing and work session in the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee on Wednesday. The committee voted unanimously to support the bill.

“While it is good news that Maine’s unemployment rate is 2.8 percent, our labor force participation rate is only about 85 percent, meaning that there are up to about 12,000 workers who could be working but are not. One of the challenges Mainers and businesses face is the mismatch between workers’ skills and the available jobs,” said Sen. Bellows, who is the Senate Chair of the Labor and Housing Committee. “It is important to make sure our state laws are in compliance with federal ones so we can continue to draw down federal funds to run our successful and vitally important apprenticeship programs.”

LD 1912 is a technical fix identified as necessary by the Maine Department of Labor (DOL) to conform state law with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Act, so that Maine continues its status as a federally recognized state-approving agency. The bill amends the information relating to a request for demographic data that an apprenticeship agreement under the Maine Apprenticeship Program must contain.

According to the testimony of Evelyn deFrees, Director of External Affairs at DOL, “the Department runs the Maine Apprenticeship Program which has nearly doubled the number of apprentices served within the past year. MAP currently has 116 registered sponsors and serves 203 employers who, in turn, employ 914 active apprentices.”

The bill faces votes in the Maine Senate and House in the coming weeks.