The Veteran Apprenticeship and Labor Opportunity Reform (VALOR) Act was signed into law today. The VALOR is designed to increase access to apprenticeship-training programs for veterans by streamlining the certification process for non-federal apprenticeship programs based in more than one state.
The legislation was introduced by Senators Thom Tillis(R-NC) and Tom Cotton (R-AR). Senator Tillis is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
“Our veterans learn a vast array of skills while bravely serving our country, and we should make opportunities to use those skills in the private sector as accessible as possible,” said Senator Tillis. “I applaud the President for quickly signing this commonsense legislation into law to reduce burdensome requirements on businesses so apprenticeship programs become more available to veterans moving forward.”
Under past law, non-federal apprenticeship training programs located in multiple states would have to register with each state’s approval agency individually, subjecting them to mountains of paperwork and multiple burdensome review processes. In response, employers decided to limit their programs to a smaller number of states and, as a result, hire fewer veterans. The VALOR Act will amend the law to allow for a single, more streamlined approval process.
