Republican members of the Joint Committee on Finance:
Thank you for your efforts on Thursday, May 25 th to help bridge Wisconsin’s workforce skills gap. Your proactive investment in Youth Apprenticeship grants and Career and Technical Education Programs in school districts is exactly what is needed to get more young people exposed to and involved in lifelong jobs literally building Wisconsin.
The average Wisconsin adult apprentice (aka participants in the registered apprenticeship program) is 28 years old. While this could partially be caused by Wisconsinites’ reskilling, it also is likely that young people are not being connected to opportunities in the skilled trades across many fields as early as they should be. Your overall investment will increase funding to $10 million annually in youth apprenticeship and $8 million in technical education incentive grants – both will go a long way toward exposing high school students to different career opportunities that may suit their individual skill sets better than a four-year degree.
We also thank you for discarding Governor Evers’ proposal that would have added additional compliance and regulatory burdens to small contractors. With material and labor shortages already affecting construction costs, current law is a less expensive and far more efficient way to promote compliance.
Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Builders Association
National Federation of Independent Business – Wisconsin
Wisconsin Conservative Energy Forum
Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group
