R 256

2019 -- S 0711 Enacted 05/01/2019

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR’S WORKFORCE BOARD TO WORK WITH THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING TO DEVELOP A REPORT ON THE FEASIBILITY OF EXPANDING NON-TRADE REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS IN RHODE ISLAND

Introduced By: Senators Lawson, Nesselbush, Metts, Murray, and Valverde

Date Introduced: March 21, 2019

WHEREAS, An apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners

of a trade or profession with a combination of on-the-job learning and related classroom

instruction; and

WHEREAS, Apprenticeships provide workers with practical and theoretical skills and

expand their opportunities in sectors where employers cannot find the workers they need; and

WHEREAS, Employers realize the financial benefits associated with apprenticeship

programs, gaining on average one dollar and forty seven cents per dollar invested in an

apprentice; and

WHEREAS, Rhode Island currently has traditional apprenticeship programs with over

one thousand four hundred apprentices primarily in construction and has begun expansion into

nontraditional apprenticeship programs; and

WHEREAS, Non-trade apprenticeships are models that fall outside the traditional trades

such as plumbing and carpentry and into new areas such as information technology and

healthcare; and

WHEREAS, The Governor’s Workforce Board has begun awarding development grants

to organizations throughout the state that will develop new and innovative apprenticeship models;

and

WHEREAS, An apprenticeship is an effective workforce development tool that is

increasingly gaining recognition as a way to meet employer demands for skilled workers while

building pathways into the middle class for Rhode Islanders: and

WHEREAS, Opportunities and challenges exist to continue to expand such programs to

meet the needs of our workers and employers and to maximize the return on investment; now,

therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby respectfully requests the Governor’s Workforce Board to work with the Rhode Island

Department of Labor and Training to develop a report on the feasibility of expanding and

enhancing the Governor's Workforce Board's state grant program for non-trade registered

apprenticeship programs in Rhode Island; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that a progress report on the

status and expansion of non-trade registered apprenticeship programs in Rhode Island be

submitted to the Senate President and Senate Majority Leader on or before January 1, 2020; and

be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Executive Director and Chairperson of the

Governor’s Work Force Board, and to the Director of the Department of Labor and Training.

========

LC001813

========