START Act

Key Points

• The bill sets strict deadlines for the government to review apprenticeship applications. Complete applications must get an approval or denial within 90 days, and incomplete ones must get corrective feedback within 30 days. This prevents applications from sitting in a pile for months.
• A new $150 million annual grant program would send money to states to grow apprenticeships. States can use the funds to pay apprentice wages, provide technical help to employers, do outreach, and offer financial incentives to attract businesses. Every state gets at least $1 million if they participate.
• States that take too long to process apprenticeship applications face a financial penalty of up to 20% of their grant funding the next year. The Labor Department must also publish its own average response times online every month, creating accountability on both sides.
• State apprenticeship agencies must post their rules, safety standards, minimum wage requirements, and reciprocity processes online. This makes it easier for apprenticeship programs approved in one state to expand into other states without starting from scratch.
• The bill removes final decision-making power from State apprenticeship councils, effective two years after the law is enacted. This shifts authority directly to State apprenticeship agencies and removes what sponsors sometimes experience as an extra layer of bureaucracy.