Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Apprenticeship Ratio topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Contractors back change to journeyman-apprentice ratio; committee to seek process fixes
Summary
Trade groups and contractors told lawmakers that Connecticut's journeyman-to-apprentice hiring ratio application process needs reform. Senators and industry witnesses welcomed Senate Bill 1465 as a procedural fix to make ratio relief faster, more transparent and to better serve technical‑school students.
Contractors, union and nonunion representatives and a foundation that oversees construction‑trade standards told the General Law Committee that Connecticut's licensing process for ratio relief — petitions for lower journeyman‑to‑apprentice ratios — is slow, opaque and deters employers from hiring apprentices.
Witnesses welcomed a committee bill (Senate Bill 1465 as filed in committee) intended to move the ratio‑relief application process out of a single department and into a more transparent, prescriptive review flow. They said better rules and an online application process would help small employers, expand apprentice hiring and make labor pipelines from the state’s technical high schools more reliable.
Key testimony - The Foundation for Fair Contracting’s Kimberly Glassman praised the committee’s approach as a practical step to improve the relief application process and said the goal should be clear, transparent standards that both union and nonunion employers accept. "This committee has passed in 2017 a law that changed the ratio and ... there was a large consensus that the ratio relief application process currently within the Department of Labor's purview is not working," she told the panel (transcript: s4402.38). - Paul Costello, a trades representative and member of the working group created after that 2017 change, said the current system needs web forms and clearer timelines. He also urged a carve‑out for Connecticut technical‑school students when applications are considered.
Why it matters: Connecticut has publicly funded technical schools training HVAC, electrical and other trades. Employers and schools say apprenticeships are a key stepping stone into good jobs, but hiring ratios and a cumbersome relief process can discourage companies from taking on apprentices or leave trained students without paid work.
What the bill would do Senate Bill 1465 (as discussed) would move the ratio‑relief application process into a new, more prescriptive administrative path, provide public-facing application forms and make timelines and criteria for relief decisions transparent. The committee heard broad industry support for that approach but also calls to ensure the policy includes explicit consideration for the state’s own technical‑school graduates.
Next steps Committee staff will work with industry groups and the Department of Labor on draft text to ensure changes increase transparency without lowering apprenticeship protections. Industry witnesses volunteered to continue stakeholder meetings to finalize the mechanics of the application process before the committee deadline.
