IR: $10M Wasted On Workforce Fund

Since the Idaho Legislature opened the Workforce Development Fund in 1996, the program has spent more than $62 million on subsidies for corporations to train workers or repurposing workers to avoid layoffs. Yet, some of the funding has been ineffective in raising wages and staving off job loss. The account is designed to assist the Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce to lure businesses to Idaho. According to an audit from the Idaho Department of Labor, only about 40 percent of the contracts handed out through the program have been “effective.” The agency deemed 52 of the contracts “ineffective.” Auditors rated another 45 as “inconclusive.” … IdahoReporter.com’s research of the ineffective and inconclusive contracts reveals the pricy cost of failure. Contracts deemed either ineffective or inconclusive amounted to more than $10 million/ Dustin Hurst , Idaho Reporter. More here.

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