Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the Maine Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) has received a total of $450,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA).  The competitive funding was awarded to Maine to serve, improve, and expand the RAP model by broadening registered apprenticeships to include health care, mental health care, addiction treatment, and alternative pain management occupations. 

“We have long supported efforts to help Maine workers receive the training and resources they need to successfully compete in the global economy, especially amid heightened job insecurity created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Senator Collins and King in a joint statement.  “This important investment will improve the accessibility and affordability of apprenticeships, allowing more Mainers to take advantage of these programs to gain in-demand skills and obtain good-paying jobs.”

In 2019, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Senator Collins sponsored a provision that further expanded the U.S. Department of Defense’s Skillbridge Program by allowing the inclusion of federal agencies as program participants.  In the same year, Senators Collins and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the American Apprenticeship Act, legislation aimed at providing funding for tuition assistance programs for participants in pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship program.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) administers federal job training and dislocated worker programs, federal grants to states for public employment service programs, and unemployment insurance benefits.  These services are provided primarily through state and local workforce development systems.