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HELENA -Despite accusations that they're rushing to judgment and grabbing control from local officials, members of Gov. Brian Schweitzer's new Workforce Investment Board voted Tuesday to overhaul how workplace training is run in Montana. The board voted overwhelmingly to revamp the state's two-year work-force training work plan and turn it over to Schweitzer, who will submit it to the U.S. Department of Labor for approval. Supporters said the revised plan would chop unnecessary bureaucracy and free up an additional $1 million for job training, a claim questioned by defenders of the current system. The board rejected a motion by Sen. Gary Perry, R-Manhattan, to delay a vote until it had discussed the proposal with the Montana Association of Counties at its annual meeting later this month. Some county commissioners have opposed the plan. If approved, Montana will switch to a single statewide planning system to oversee workplace training and administration of federal and other grants. The state Labor Department would administer the program statewide and contract with local programs. The current system, criticized by some as a bureaucratic nightmare but defended by others as effective, involves a state board with two separate local boards. A nonprofit group, Montana Job Training Partnership, now administers programs for the two boards, while the Labor Department receives and distributes federal job-training money. Backers and opponents of the new plan acknowledged there has been an increasingly bitter turf battle over job-training programs and money between the state Labor Department and the partnership since its formation in 1990. Montana receives about $7.4 million in federal workplace training money annually - about half of what it collected four years ago. If approved, the new plan would terminate the partnership, eliminating its 18 jobs, although some staff might be hired at the Labor Department, Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said. "It's a victory for good government and getting more money on the ground, and it is not a day for celebration," Kelly said after the vote. Schweitzer announced the new board Aug. 30 and told members on Tuesday he wanted to see more accountability, real local control, dollars spent on job training - not bureaucracy - and assistance going to those needing it the most. The board endorsed the plan less than a month later. The proposed changes come after a recent federal audit raised serious concerns about how federal money awarded to the state Labor Department was spent. The money was distributed to the partnership, which contracted with the Montana AFL-CIO's Project Challenge: Work Again program for laid-off workers. The audit found a lack of documentation of how the AFL-CIO program spent some money, and disallowed some costs. Schweitzer told the board that Montana is engaged in a race with other states and countries for jobs and needs to train its workers. He said he wants to see $1 million now spent on the partnership's administrative costs go for actual job training, the sooner the better. Bob Henry, a retired Butte banker who serves on one of the boards administered by the partnership, urged the new board to slow down. "I can assure you that the system is not broke and doesn't need fixing," he said. "Please do not rush into action today based on the testimony you have heard today." Norma Boetel, a Bozeman businesswoman who is on one of the boards, accused the Schweitzer administration of breaking a signed formal agreement reached earlier this year between parties to continue to support the two work-force areas. "To me, an agreement is an agreement is an agreement," she said. "I have never heard so many excuses to get out of an agreement." But former state Labor Commissioner Wendy Keating, speaking for four other commissioners who headed the state agency, supported the new setup to end the broken system, which she said is beset by disruption and dissension. "As painful as this change is, it's been a long time coming," she said. Evan Barrett, Schweitzer's chief business officer, disputed the allegation that the state is grabbing power from local people. "As a generality, most all of the local services providers have been doing a great job and have no worries," he said. "This is not about centralization but about empowerment at the local level with more money for those who need to be trained." Billings Gazette
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