May25,2016
HonorableOrrinHatch
104HartOfficeBuilding UnitedStatesSenate
Washington,D.C.,20510
DearChairmanHatchandRankingMemberMurray,
HonorablePattyMurray 154RussellSenateOfficeBuilding
UnitedStatesSenate
Washington,D.C.,20510
OnbehalfofCompTIA,TECNA,BSA|TheSoftwareAlliance,andtheundersignedstatetechnology
associations,IwouldliketoapplaudyouontheintroductionoftheEARNS(EffectiveApprenticeships
RebuildNationalSkills)Act.Theneedtofurtherdevelopourdomesticpipelineoftalenthaslong
beenapriorityofbothCompTIAandTECNAandthislegislationrecognizestheimportanceof
apprenticeshipsasameanstoabetter-preparedhighskilledworkforce.Accordingly,wewouldlike
toofferourfullendorsementoftheEARNSAct.
Apprenticeshipprogramsprovideanopportunitytolearnoutsideoftheclassroom,inafieldthat
requiresahighlevelofskill,whilebeginningtoearnawage.Inaddition,apprenticeshipprograms
canhelptheemployerobtaintheskillstheyneedfromworkerswhilehelpingtheemployeesmoothly
transitiontheirnewlylearnedskillsintoafulltimejob.TheDepartmentofLaboralsohas
compellingevidencethatapprenticeshipscanincreaseone’searningpotentialsignificantly.
Theimportanceoftheseprogramscannotbestressedenoughaslimitedhigh-skilledtalentisan
ongoingconcern.Inourcurrentecosystem,therearemorejobsthatrequiretheseskillsthenthere
areworkerstofillthem.Inordertoclosethegap,theremustbecooperationamongthestakeholders.
TheEARNSactdoesjustthatbyenhancingcooperationbetweenthepublicandprivatesectoraswell
aseducationalinstitutions.Inadditiontoenhancedcooperationwitheducationalinstitutions,the
EARNSactwillhelptointegrateapprenticeshipprogramsintopostsecondaryeducation,allowing
studentstomaximizetheirbenefitfromtheseprograms.
Again,wewouldliketoofferoursupportfortheEARNSActandthevaluableprogramsitwill
providetomembersoftheworkforceacrossthecountry.Welookforwardtoworkingwithyouand
yourstaffasthisbillmovesthroughthelegislativeprocess.
Sincerely,
ElizabethHyman,ExecutiveVicePresident
CompTIA
ArizonaTechnologyCouncil(AZTC)
AustinTechnologyCouncil(ATC)
CaliforniaTechnologyCouncil(CTC)
ColoradoTechnologyAssociation
CONNECT
ConnecticutTechnologyCouncil(CTC)
# # \ R A b < 3 EO a V W \ U b ] \ 2 1 eeeQ][^bWO]`U
IdahoTechCouncil(ITC)
IllinoisTechnologyAssociation(ITA)
KCTechCouncil
MassachusettsTechnologyLeadershipCouncil(MassTLC)
MinnesotaHighTechAssociation(MHTA)
NashvilleTechnologyCouncil
NewHampshireHighTechCouncil(NHHTC)
NewJerseyTechCouncil(NJTC)
NewYorkTechnologyCouncil(NYTECH)
NorthCarolinaTechnologyAssociation(NCTA)
OHTech
OrangeCountyTechnologyAlliance
TechnologyAssociationofGeorgia(TAG)
TechnologyAssociationofIowa
TechnologyAssociationofLouisvilleKentucky(TALK)
TechnologyAssociationofOregon(TAO)
TechTitans
UtahTechnologyCouncil
WashingtonTechnologyIndustryAssociation(WTIA)
WisconsinTechnologyCouncil
AboutBSA|TheSoftwareAlliance
BSA|TheSoftwareAlliance(www.bsa.org)istheleadingadvocatefortheglobalsoftwareindustry
beforegovernmentsandintheinternationalmarketplace.Itsmembersareamongtheworld’smost
innovativecompanies,creatingsoftwaresolutionsthatsparktheeconomyandimprovemodernlife.
WithheadquartersinWashington,DC,andoperationsinmorethan60countriesaroundtheworld,
BSApioneerscomplianceprogramsthatpromotelegalsoftwareuseandadvocatesforpublicpolicies
thatfostertechnologyinnovationanddrivegrowthinthedigitaleconomy.BSA’smembersinclude:
Adobe,ANSYS,Apple,Autodesk,BentleySystems,CATechnologies,CNC/Mastercam,DataStax,Dell,
IBM,Intuit,Microsoft,Minitab,Oracle,salesforce.com,SASInstitute,SiemensPLMSoftware,Splunk,
Symantec,Tekla,TheMathWorks,TrendMicroandWorkday.
AboutCompTIA
TheComputingTechnologyIndustryAssociation(CompTIA)isthevoiceoftheinformation
technologyindustry.Withapproximately2,000membercompanies,3,000academicandtraining
partnersandnearly2millionITcertificationsissued,CompTIAisdedicatedtoadvancingindustry
growththrougheducationalprograms,marketresearch,networkingevents,professional
certificationsandpublicpolicyadvocacy.
AboutTECNA
"TheTechnologyCouncilsofNorthAmerica(TECNA)servesasthevoicefortheNorthAmerican
technologycommunity.TECNA’smembersrepresentover22,000technology-relatedcompanies
throughoutNorthAmerica.TECNAbringsvaluetostateandregionaltechnologyorganizationsin
theirefforttofostercollaboration,innovationandtheexchangeofideaswithinthefastpacedand
quickchangingworldoftechnology."