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Education subcommittee acknowledges apprenticeship report on higher-education capital projects
Summary
The Oregon Education Subcommittee on Ways and Means acknowledged a Higher Education Coordinating Commission report on apprenticeship utilization for state-funded higher-education capital projects and agreed to carry the report to the full committee after members discussed participation levels, rural challenges and how the data are used.
The Education Subcommittee of the Oregon Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee on May 22 acknowledged receipt of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s annual apprenticeship report covering apprenticeship, minority, women and veteran participation on higher-education capital projects funded with state general obligation bond proceeds.
The report, presented to the subcommittee by John Wyckoff of the Oregon Community College Association and Kevin Neely of the Oregon Council of Presidents, documents participation on eligible projects (those receiving at least $8,000,000 of state bond funds or otherwise subject to the reporting requirement) and shows a mix of results across community college and public university projects. “These reports reflect about 263,000 apprenticeship hours,” Kevin Neely said, citing the university-sector totals.
Committee members said the report matters because it provides a factual record of who is participating on state-funded capital projects and where gaps remain. “We needed to find out whether they were in fact involved,” Senator Frederick said, describing the policy intent behind the reporting requirement to track use of apprentices, minority workers, women and veterans.
Substantive findings and examples presented to the committee included: community colleges reported a small set of large projects (Blue Mountain’s Equine Center, Linn–Benton/Lee Community College health projects and Tillamook Bay Community College’s health education building were cited), while public universities reported 15 active or completed projects across the state. Neely highlighted that university projects recorded roughly 263,000 apprenticeship hours in the reporting period and gave project-level participation percentages (for example, one campus project showed about 24% of hours from apprentices, 11% minority individuals and 4% women; other projects varied by region and project stage). Jason Lawrence of Tillamook Bay Community College told the subcommittee the Tillamook project anticipates completion in November 2025.
Members pressed presenters on practical issues and data limits. Senator Weber asked, “And how does it relate to prevailing wage?” Kevin Neely and John Wyckoff said they did not have a definitive answer in the meeting and offered to follow up; Wyckoff noted that many projects include project labor agreements and said the presenters would obtain clarifying information for members.
Members also discussed rural workforce development and outreach. Presenters and members agreed that some rural projects show lower participation because construction had not yet advanced at the time of reporting or because local apprenticeship ecosystems are smaller; Neely credited collaborative efforts such as a Southern Oregon joint apprenticeship training committee formed with Klamath and Rogue community colleges and industry partners as a positive step to build capacity.
The Department of Administrative Services and the Legislative Fiscal Office recommended the subcommittee acknowledge the report. A member moved that the subcommittee carry the acknowledgement and recommendation to the full committee; the motion was adopted with no objections and the chair said the subcommittee would carry the report forward to the full committee.
Discussion only vs. formal action: the subcommittee’s acknowledgment is a formal receipt/acknowledgement of the report and direction to carry it to the full committee; no new statutory changes, rulemaking, or funding actions were taken at the meeting. Presenters committed to provide follow-up information about prevailing-wage interactions and any additional data requests members raised.
The conversation also included broader remarks about the legislature’s investments in campus facilities, deferred maintenance reductions, and workforce outreach efforts; members encouraged sharing the report’s findings with workforce organizations such as Oregon Tradeswomen and said the data could help identify where outreach and apprenticeship-building efforts are needed.
The subcommittee adjourned after adopting the acknowledgement and agreed to continue other work at future meetings.
