From Preservation Action:

Preservation Action submitted written testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies in support of FY26 appropriations for the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration program. Specifically, Preservation Action supported $335 million for the Office of Apprenticeship and $1.76 billion for Job Corps with the explicit and express purpose of supporting historic trades apprenticeship and job developments. We also highlighted our concern over the proposed elimination of of the Job Corps program in the President's budget and a current suspension in funding. Support for programs like Job Corps is needed now more than ever and elimination would further exacerbate the nation's skilled labor shortage. As the historic preservation field knows, demand for skilled workers in the historic trades is tremendous but there is a dearth of trained tradespeople who can meet that demand. 

According to a 2022 study, over 40% of buildings in the United States are over 50 years old and the rehabilitation of existing buildings represents $85 billion in investment each year. This makes up 19% of the building construction industry, employing more than 1.3 million workers. We rely on a skilled workforce in the traditional building trades to rehabilitate the millions of older buildings in the U.S.

Preservation Action has a renewed focus on historic trades thanks to the results of our 2024 Grassroots Network Survey. There, you all -- our grassroots constituency -- told us that Historic Trades was amongst your top three greatest concerns you wanted us to advocate for. We listened. Check out our complete testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee to learn more!

FY26 Senate Labor Appropriations Committee Written Testimony:
https://preservationaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/PA-FY26-Senate-Labor-Appropriations-Testimony-Final.pdf