Vice President Harris, Acting Secretary Su traveled to Wisconsin to announce Executive Order to expand Registered Apprenticeship

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris and Acting Secretary Julie Su traveled to Madison, Wisconsin on March 6, 2024, to announce the Biden-Harris administration’s Executive Order to Expand Registered Apprenticeships to help create more Registered Apprenticeship programs in the federal workforce, encourage agencies to support projects that hire apprentices, and increase worker voice in federal programs and contracts. 

Registered Apprenticeships are a proven strategy to expand equitable training pathways to good-paying jobs, including union jobs. Since 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has invested more than $440 million to expand the capacity of the Registered Apprenticeship system, supporting the education and training needs of more than one million apprentices across the country. 

The new efforts will help equip workers with the skills and training needed to compete for the good jobs created by the President’s Investing in America agenda, including the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. Vice President Harris highlighted the Executive Order’s benefits while the Vice President and Acting Secretary Su met with apprentices at the site of the future Madison Metro Transit facility.

The event’s media coverage included the following: 

Jaylon Banks sits down for an exclusive interview with acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su

By Jaylon Banks | March 6, 2024 (Channel 3000)

“The Vice President and Secretary on their visit to Madison, tout the administration’s work in the state in clean energy infrastructure, union jobs and new apprenticeship program initiatives. Asking Secretary Su why these things are important to Wisconsinites, she says the state has one key advantage. 

‘It’s so important so we’re investing in programs like that, but we can’t do that without good strong local and state leadership, which we have here. We have a mayor that’s committed to bus lines and public transit and using electric vehicles for them. We have a Governor that’s really committed to having good jobs throughout Wisconsin.”

Vice President Kamala Harris touts expanding Registered Apprenticeships during visit to Wisconsin

By Anthony DaBruzzi | March 6, 2024 (Spectrum News 1)

“Highlighting the administration’s investments in clean energy infrastructure, the vice president spoke from the job site of a soon-to-be electric bus depot where Registered Apprentices were at work Wednesday. U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who joined the vice president on the trip, said the project in Madison is just one example of how federal funds are creating jobs.

‘We want to walk the talk,’ Su said. “This is about saying apprenticeship programs—we know they work; we know they create opportunity. We know that they are a pathway for people who might not have even known there was a job like that.’” 

‘Born a Badger’: Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s Madison roots inspire federal worker advocacy

By Cat Carroll | March 6, 2024 (The Badger Herald)

“Some of U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s earliest memories took place while she lived in Madison. She remembers feeding ducks on Lake Mendota and describes herself as being ‘born a Badger.’ For Su, being back in Madison is humbling. She pointed to the job opportunities being created for communities across the state through improving roads, building bridges, preparing for electric buses and upgrading public transit overall.”