Bush Cuts Worker Training Programs
February 6, 2002
President Bush has come a long way from Texas, where
as governor he was known for supporting training programs for laid-off
workers.
Today, just as American workers attempt to recover from a devastating
list of recent corporate downsizings and massive lay-offs, Bush
is proposing to slash funding to unemployed workers.
Bush sent Congress a $2.13 trillion budget Monday that would slash
$545 million from job training programs nationwide.
Such a decrease is especially astonishing following his words of
commitment to American workers in last weeks State of the Union
Address: "When America works, America prospers. So my economic
security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs."
"Its unconscionable that the President chooses to kick Americas
working families today, when they face higher unemployment rates
than they have in years," said IBEW International President
Edwin D. Hill.
Youth opportunity grants would fall to $45 million in 2003 from
$225 million this year. Such programs support job training at the
local level in poor communities.
Other elements of the Bush budget include an 11-percent reduction
in assistance to dislocated workers and a 9-percent cut in training
for adults.
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