[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1841 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1841

 To amend the National Apprenticeship Act to provide that applications 
 relating to apprenticeship programs shall be processed in a fair and 
                 timely manner, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 19, 2017

  Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the National Apprenticeship Act to provide that applications 
 relating to apprenticeship programs shall be processed in a fair and 
                 timely manner, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Apprenticeship Enhancement Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote accountability and fairness in the 
        registration of apprenticeship programs and certification of 
        apprentices; and
            (2) to provide for the registration of all apprenticeship 
        programs and certification of all apprentices in a timely and 
        efficient manner.

SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE REGISTRATION OF APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.

    The Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the ``National 
Apprenticeship Act''; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), 
is amended by striking section 4 and inserting the following:

``SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    ``(a) Procedures Required.--The Secretary of Labor shall ensure 
each of the following:
            ``(1) For each application submitted under this Act, 
        regarding an apprenticeship program or an apprentice, to an 
        entity responsible for rendering decisions with respect to that 
        application (such as a State Apprenticeship Agency)--
                    ``(A) that entity shall render a decision on that 
                application before the expiration of the period of 90 
                calendar days beginning on the date on which that 
                application was submitted;
                    ``(B) if that entity cannot comply with 
                subparagraph (A), that entity shall provide written 
                notice to the applicant of the status of the 
                application, and render a decision on that application 
                before the expiration of the period of 120 calendar 
                days beginning on the date on which that application 
                was submitted; or
                    ``(C) if that entity cannot comply with 
                subparagraph (B), the application shall be deemed to be 
                a petition for review filed under paragraph (4) by the 
                applicant on the date after the expiration of the 
                period referred to in subparagraph (B).
            ``(2) Each decision described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
        paragraph (1) shall not be completely based on whether persons 
        not directly participating in submitting, or sponsoring, the 
        application object to the application.
            ``(3) Each decision described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
        paragraph (1) shall be promptly provided to all concerned 
        parties in a writing that sets forth clearly the factual and 
        legal basis for the decision.
            ``(4)(A) Any applicant aggrieved by a decision rendered 
        under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall be 
        entitled to file a petition for review of that decision by an 
        individual who--
                    ``(i) is the Secretary or the Secretary's designee 
                within the Department of Labor; and
                    ``(ii) is independent of the entity rendering that 
                decision.
            ``(B) In the event of any factual dispute concerning a 
        petition for review, the applicant may request an adjudicatory 
        hearing, which shall be conducted on the record pursuant to 
        sections 554, 556, and 557 of title 5, United States Code.
            ``(C) The Secretary (or designee, if applicable) shall, 
        before the expiration of the period of 30 days beginning on the 
        date that the applicant filed the petition for review (or, if 
        the applicant requested an adjudicatory hearing, the date of 
        the end of that hearing), make a final determination and 
        deliver a copy of that determination to all concerned parties. 
        Such final determination shall be binding on the entity 
        responsible for rendering the decision under paragraph (1).
            ``(D) If the Secretary (or designee, if applicable) fails 
        to make and deliver such final determination before the 
        expiration of such period (or the date of the end of that 
        hearing), such final determination shall be deemed to be to 
        approve the application.
            ``(5)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for an application 
        submitted under this Act by an employer seeking to update 
        standards for a registered apprenticeship program, the 
        Secretary of Labor shall render a decision on that application 
        before the expiration of the period of 60 calendar days 
        beginning on the date on which that application was submitted.
            ``(B) The decision shall be promptly provided to all 
        concerned parties in a writing that sets forth clearly the 
        factual and legal basis for the decision.
            ``(C) If the Secretary of Labor fails to provide the 
        written decision before the expiration of such period, the 
        updated standards shall be deemed to be approved.
    ``(b) Judicial Review.--A final determination under paragraph 
(4)(C) or (5) of subsection (a) shall be binding on the applicant 
unless the applicant files a petition for judicial review of that final 
determination. Judicial review of that determination shall be on the 
record on which the final determination is based.
    ``(c) Application.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`application' includes any application for certification of an 
apprentice or registration of an apprenticeship program.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendment made by section 3 of this Act shall apply to all 
applications filed after the date of enactment of this Act.
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