Wisconsin State Senate passes bill to increase jobsite apprentice ratio

Listen to this article

On a party line vote, a bill to increase the number of apprentices to journeyworkers on Wisconsin job sites passed the state Senate.

Republican lawmakers on Tuesday voted 18-15 to pass Assembly Bill 241, which will allow one journeyworker to oversee two apprentices at a time.

The construction industry anticipates it will need hundreds of thousands of new workers to meet future demand. Much of the workforce is set for retirement, meaning demand is only expected to grow.

Wisconsin recorded 18,524 apprentices and 3,095 employers in the Registered Apprenticeship program in 2025, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

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.

If signed by Gov. Tony Evers, the bill would allow the journeyworker to apprentice to change from one-to-one to two-to-one.

DWD officials said the proposal will have no effect on collective bargaining agreements that establish their own apprenticeship ratios.

Workforce officials said they had concerns about the increased ratio influencing safety and quality of instructions and affecting compliance with current U.S. Department of Labor guidance.

“While we understand workforce shortage concerns, AB 241 could have unintended consequences on Wisconsin’s record-breaking apprenticeship program,” wrote Amy Pechacek, secretary of the Department of Workforce Development, in a testimony.

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin supported the bill. Union groups such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Operating Engineers Local 139 and Plumbers Local 75 registered against the bill.