Beebe: Federal cuts not as bad as feared
Posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/224909/
Federal cuts won’t hurt state work-force programs as much as state officials initially feared, Gov. Mike Beebe said.
Last month, he announced that the U. S. Department of Labor was cutting $ 4. 3 million from grants for worker training overseen by the Department of Workforce Services and the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board.
But Beebe now says the state will tap unspent money from previous federal funding to make up for all but $ 1. 3 million of the cut.
“We can reduce the number of individuals affected, but we will still see clients suffering from cuts in supportive services,” Beebe said.
The money at state workforce centers helps unemployed people gain skills and apply for jobs. It also is used by the state to help large numbers of displaced workers when a plant closes.
Work-force centers served about 30, 000 Arkansans a year.