The Governance Committee voted to send to the Economic and Workforce Development Committee a council consideration request seeking apprenticeship and training requirements for city-funded construction projects.

The CCR, filed by Councilmember Terry Castillo (District 5), asks that city-funded projects above $10 million require 35% of the workforce to be current enrollees or graduates of U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeship programs, with scaled requirements for smaller projects and a construction-readiness pipeline that includes pre-employment and pre-apprenticeship training.

Staff warned the proposal would require additional staff time to monitor compliance and could increase bid costs because of wage and training requirements; legal considerations include reliance on federal apprenticeship certifications which may change over time. Council members and sponsors discussed piloting the approach in select projects to better assess pipeline capacity and cost impacts before a broad citywide mandate.

Staff recommended referral to EWDC; the committee voted to refer the CCR. Council members emphasized that EWDC should form a balanced stakeholder group including labor and construction industry representatives and evaluate a pilot option and pipeline capacity before recommending a final policy.