Wisconsin bill looks to expand apprentice to journey worker ratio

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A hearing will be held for a Wisconsin State Assembly bill meant to boost construction trainee numbers by increasing the number of apprentices overseen by journeymen on job sites.

State Sen. Chris Kapenga of Delafield and Reps. David Maxey of New Berlin and Adam Neylon and Pewaukee co-sponsored Assembly Bill 241/Senate Bill 242, which will allow journeymen to oversee two apprentices at a time.

A public hearing to consider the bill will be held by the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development, Labor, and Integrated Employment on Wednesday, May 28 at 9:30 a.m. at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Under current law, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development allows for one apprentice for each journey worker on a given project.

The construction industry needs hundreds of thousands of new workers to meet the anticipated demand for services. As an aging skilled workforce readies for retirement, that demand is only expected to grow.
In 2024, Wisconsin boasted 17,452 apprentices and apprenticeship contracts in the state have steadily increased since 2012, data from the DWD showed. There were 81% more apprentices in 2024 than 2012, data showed.

In 2018, former Gov. Scott Walker signed the law that set Wisconsin’s journeyman-to-apprentice ratio at one-to-one for all types of construction work.

Legislators said they toured electrical contractors who wanted to hire more workers and were facing high service demand. Kapenga credited an influx of large construction projects in Wisconsin and President Donald Trump’s reshoring efforts as factors for that demand.

“There are plenty of businesses out there going, ‘We can do more than this, we need to do more than this,’” Kapenga said. “I think, especially in light of manufacturing jobs that are going to keep coming back and construction jobs going on with what Trump’s doing, it’s going to increase the demand,” he added.

Construction unions such as the Wisconsin Laborers District Council, Plumbers Local 75 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Construction Electrician Local Unions filed in opposition of the bill, according to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

Corey Gall, president of the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association, said there were very few contractors near journeymen-to-apprentice ratios as there were more apprentices starting than work available. Gall is also the co-chair of the DWD’s Wisconsin Apprenticeship Advisory Council.

“There are more people wanting to get into apprenticeship than there is work right now,” Gall said. “We don’t have contractors using the current ratio. This legislation is not needed or wanted by our local unions or members, nor our contractors,” he added.

If a company has 10 journeymen and 20 apprentices for example, having all apprentices on a job site could have more inexperienced labor that could run into safety issues down the line, Gall noted.

“In my opinion, you can’t properly or efficiently train the next generation of workers at that kind of ratio,” Gall said. “Our concern is (the bill) will have a lot of inexperienced, cheap labor (on site). The cheap labor may cause safety issues and lower the standards of the construction industry. Working on construction is very dangerous and this could affect safety standards moving forward,” he added.

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin filed in favor of the bill. In an internal newsletter, ABC officials said the current ratio limits the number of apprentices an employer can train. The association, which represents mostly small, non-union contractors, had its representatives testify against a proposed mandate for apprentices on large public contracts.

“The change will allow more small businesses to hire additional apprentices and address the construction skills gap,” officials said in the newsletter.

Lawmakers said they looked at states such as Michigan where three apprentice electricians can work with one journeyman electrician. One skilled plumber can supervise two apprentices at once in Michigan as well. There hasn’t been data from Michigan that showed a correlation between higher apprenticeship ratios and injury rates, legislators said.

The bill was drafted shortly after the DWD announced Wisconsin saw 11,344 youth apprentices enrolled in the 2024-25 school year, which is a 14% increase from last year. Of those apprentices, 1,409 were in agriculture and construction trades.