Feds cut workforce funds

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA — The Bush Administration is cutting back on funding to many social programs, the latest being the Workforce Development Program that offers training to people who have no marketable skills or who have been laid off from their jobs.

According to many job-training officials, the cuts are no surprise in the wake of the funding directed toward the war in Iraq.

“In Pennsylvania, youth programs will be cut by seven percent, adult programs will also be cut seven percent and the displaced worker program will be cut by 17 percent,” said Keith Ramsay, Fiscal Officer for the Pocono Counties Workforce Investment Area, a regional group that oversees all training programs in counties in the Poconos.

Ramsay said he was not sure how these cuts would play out in the Pocono counties.

“These are across-the-board cuts in all states,” he said. “The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry must make the decision what communities in the state have a greater number of unemployed workers. They will probably get fewer cuts.”

“It’s too early for particulars,” said Christopher Manlove, press representative for the Department of Labor and Industry. “We have the overall totals, but don’t have the breakdown of funding to areas like the Pocono Workforce Area.”

“This isn’t something new,” said Barry Ciccocioppo, Governor Rendell’s press secretary. “The feds have been cutting these funds in recent years. In the past, the governor has offered subsidies to counties to supplement the cuts. We don’t know yet whether that is possible this time.”

Ciccocioppo said that there needs to be a better link between the state’s educational system and the business community, for instance, in developing better curriculums to prepare vocational students for the real jobs that exist.

“We don’t have factories that have closed down in Wayne County like they have in other counties,” said Marie McDonald of the county’s job training center. “We haven’t seen major lay-offs in retail and tourism, the major employers in our area, so I’m not sure whether we’ll see fewer cuts.”

McDonald said the cuts force local training programs to become more creative. “We will need to increase on-the-job training,” she said. “We’ll need to depend more on our local businesses.”