House Bill 25-1284 Engrossed

LLS NO. 25-0509.01 Josh Schultz x5486
First Regular Session
Seventy-fifth General Assembly
State of Colorado

House Sponsorship

Duran,

Senate Sponsorship

Sullivan,

This Version Includes All Amendments Adopted on Second Reading in the House of Introduction

House Amended 2nd Reading April 17, 2025

House Committees

Business Affairs & Labor

Appropriations

Senate Committees

No committees scheduled.

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A Bill for an Act

Bill Summary

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)

Current law requires an electrical employer, plumbing employer, or apprenticeship program registered with the United States department of labor or a state apprenticeship agency recognized by the United States department of labor that employs an apprentice in this state (employer) to register an apprentice with the employer's respective governing board (board) within 30 days after beginning employment. When an apprentice is no longer employed as an apprentice, the bill requires the employer to remove the apprentice from the apprenticeship program and notify the applicable board of the termination of the employment no later than 30 days after the termination of the employment.

On and after January 1, 2027, an employer is also required to renew an apprentice's registration with the employer's board at least once every 12 months. The employer must provide specified information to the board when renewing the apprentice's registration. The board may charge a registration fee to pay for the costs of maintaining an apprenticeship registration database.

An employer is prohibited from registering an apprentice's registration with a board unless the apprentice is enrolled in an apprenticeship program training the apprentice for an occupation officially recognized by the United States department of labor as an electrical occupation for an electrical apprenticeship or a plumbing occupation for a plumbing apprenticeship. Each calendar quarter, the state apprenticeship agency shall publish a list of the apprenticeship programs that train apprentices for an occupation officially recognized by the United States department of labor as an electrical occupation or a plumbing occupation.

On or before July 1, 2026, the bill requires the state apprenticeship agency and the department of regulatory agencies to establish data-sharing agreements and policies to enable the entities to determine if there are apprentices registered with a board who are enrolled to be trained for occupations other than electrical or plumbing occupations and who are therefore ineligible for registration with the board. If the board cannot verify that an apprentice is eligible to be registered as an apprentice within 30 days after notice of noncompliance, the board shall remove the apprentice's registration with the board, and the noncompliant apprentice shall not perform work as a plumbing or electrical apprentice in the state.

An employer of an electrical apprentice may authorize the electrical apprentice to take the residential wireman's license examination instead of the journeyman electrician license examination if:

If an electrical apprentice has failed to pass a license examination in 2 consecutive 3-year periods, the apprentice may request an exemption from the board from future examination requirements. The board shall grant the exemption if:

An employer of a plumbing apprentice may authorize the plumbing apprentice to take the residential plumber's license examination instead of the journeyworker plumber's license examination if:

If a plumbing apprentice has failed to pass a license examination in 2 consecutive 2-year periods, the plumbing apprentice may request an exemption from the board from future examination requirements. The board shall grant the exemption if:

Current law requires that, if the cumulative training and classroom hours of an apprentice are not properly reported to the board or if an apprentice fails to take a license examination within a specified time frame, the board shall suspend the apprentice's license. The bill allows the board to instead declare the apprentice's registration status "inactive" and creates procedures for the board to restore the apprentice's registration status to "active".

A board may sanction an employer that consistently and willfully demonstrates a lack of compliance or whose apprentices show a significant pattern of noncompliance with the bill.