WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Secretary Julie Su requesting job creators have ample opportunity to comment on Biden’s over 600 page proposed rule. The pending regulations are nothing more than a power grab by this administration to expand control over apprenticeships, inject political ideology into the apprenticeship system, and impose significant new burdens on apprenticeship sponsors and employers. Specifically, Foxx is asking for the comment period to be extended by an additional 60 days.
In the letter, Foxx writes: “As a blatant effort to circumvent the legislative process and expand the role of the federal government, the [proposed rule] would significantly impact employers who participate in the registered apprenticeship system and diminish the role of states in registering apprenticeship programs.”
The letter continues: “The [proposed rule’s] regulatory analysis illustrates just how out of touch the Department is with the time and capacity needed to digest and react to its regulatory onslaught, as it estimates that each participating employer would only need to spend two hours reading and reviewing the proposed rule. Two hours is hardly sufficient for a single reading, much less conducting a substantive analysis of the impact of a proposed rule that includes 80 definitions and utilizes 48 different acronyms.”
The letter goes on: “Without an extension of the deadline, many smaller employers may simply be unable to participate effectively in the public comment period. Multiple industry associations have already submitted comments to the Department requesting an extension of the public comment period.”
