STAND. COM. REP. NO.  253-12

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2573

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2573 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO APPRENTICESHIP,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to amend the State apprenticeship law to conform to the new federal regulations on apprenticeship programs.

 

     The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Hawaii Laborers' Union, and Pacific Resource Partnership testified in support of this measure.

 

     Hawaii's Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is currently recognized as a State Apprenticeship Agency by the Office of Apprenticeship of the United States Department of Labor.  The Department has been charged with the responsibility to register and oversee apprenticeship programs.  In 2008, the United States Department of Labor published final rules to modernize the national apprenticeship system.  These new rules recognized that technological advances, demographic changes, and globalization have significantly altered the context in which apprenticeship programs operate and contained new concepts, such as competency-based training and provisional approvals of new apprenticeship programs.

 


     The United States Department of Labor provided State Apprenticeship Agencies with two years to implement the necessary changes to conform state laws to the new federal rules.  Hawaii requested and received a two year extension from the Office of Apprenticeship to conform its laws to the new federal rules.  According to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, changes in state law, Hawaii Administrative Rules, and agency policies must be in place by December 31, 2012, to conform to the federal requirements.

 

     Your Committee finds that apprenticeship programs provide participants with an invaluable educational experience and outstanding benefits.  Apprenticeship programs also help to develop and apply industry standards to training programs, which increases the productivity and improves the quality of the workforce.  Your Committee notes that this measure is necessary for the continuation of these valuable apprenticeship programs.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2573 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair