Bipartisan Senate bill would promote cybersecurity apprenticeship programs

The article describes the Cyber Ready Workforce Act, a bipartisan Senate bill introduced by Sens. Jacky Rosen and Marsha Blackburn to provide Department of Labor competitive grants for creating, implementing, and expanding registered cybersecurity apprenticeship programs. The legislation would have DOL oversee registrations, help employers with offsite training costs, and reference a National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education workforce framework; grants should allocate at least 85% to employer program management and up to 15% to workforce intermediaries for marketing and outreach. The apprenticeships would offer technical instruction and industry-recognized certifications (e.g., CompTIA, Microsoft, Certified Ethical Hacker) to prepare participants for roles like support technicians, cloud architects, programmers, analysts, and security specialists, as part of broader congressional efforts to close a sizable cybersecurity workforce gap.