This week Maine finally got a look at the letter Gov. Paul LePage sent the federal labor secretary more than a month ago to reject millions of dollars in federal job training funding. It revealed a lot about LePage’s “my way or the highway” approach to governing.
It’s important for readers to know that the reason Maine got to see the letter is because the federal government released it under a formal Freedom of Information Act request from the BDN. The BDN asked the LePage administration for the note, too, but still hasn’t heard back from them.
The letter shows the LePage administration did not just actively decline to provide clarity on what it’s doing with federal money that pays for training for thousands of unemployed workers and helps to fund the state’s 12 regional career centers. It shows the administration actually chose to sow confusion.
[LePage rejects $8M, jeopardizing job training for thousands of unemployed]
In his own letter to Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta on Sept. 7, which only became public this week, LePage made it clear he is rejecting the money because the federal Department of Labor didn’t approve LePage’s plan to consolidate workforce boards.
“I will not continue to participate in a system that wastes money,” LePage wrote after noting that the department refused his request.
He added: “This letter will serve to notify you that Maine is no longer participating in the WIOA Title IB program. We ask that no more of these funds be sent to the Maine Department of Labor.”
Maine gets about $9 million each year in federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding, which helps roughly 50,000 people upgrade their skills, gain work experience and search for jobs.
[LePage leaves hundreds of unemployed in the dark on future of job training]
Even though local workforce development officials didn’t see the letter, they got wind of it quickly. (It’s difficult to cut off millions of dollars without anyone finding out.) Yet, even when presented with questions, LePage and the Maine Department of Labor didn’t try to explain.
They certainly didn’t offer guidance to furious local officials who found themselves trying to figure out how to handle already-signed contracts and leases, lay off staff and themselves, and inform their clients living in poverty that they probably wouldn’t be able to finish the training they had counted on to get a good job.
Rather, the administration stuck its head in the sand, emerging only to mislead. On Sept. 11, in response to news reports, the Maine Department of Labor told the BDN, “Any statement indicating that the Governor has rejected this funding is categorically untrue.”
Of course LePage’s own letter proves otherwise.
It’s unclear why the LePage administration chose to obfuscate on this matter. LePage has said he wants to eliminate the three regional workforce development boards that manage the federal WIOA funding in favor of one statewide board, to cut down on overhead and administrative costs.
[Trump slaps down LePage’s job training takeover bid]
That way, “more funds can go directly to the constituents we are trying to put back to work,” he wrote.
But rejecting all WIOA funding because the federal government won’t let him reorganize — because, legally, it’s not his decision to make — will only harm the people, workers seeking education and retraining, he professes to want to protect. What’s more, cutting three boards wouldn’t actually save much money, and having one big board in Augusta isn’t how the system was designed to run. Workforce needs tend to be regional.
If LePage is really trying to help constituents, as he says he is, he wouldn’t punish them by ending their valuable training because he didn’t get his way.
Follow BDN Editorial & Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions on the issues of the day in Maine.