PENNSYLVANIA Federal grant saves job training program

Money is also earmarked for jobless coal miners and airline workers.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Labor Department bailed out Pennsylvania's beleaguered job training program this week with a $21 million emergency grant, reopening classrooms to thousands of laid-off workers looking to hone new skills.
The federal agency also earmarked an additional $2.5 million to retrain unemployed coal miners and airline workers -- two of Pennsylvania's hardest-hit industries.
"This grant is a huge shot in the arm for Pennsylvania's workers," said Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., one of several lawmakers who lobbied the Labor Department to get the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program back on its feet in the state.
"These funds will make sure that those who were promised assistance will get it, and it reaffirms the commitment we made to those who have been hurt by unfair trade practices," Hart said.
The money brings the federal TAA program, which is run by the state, back into the black after facing a $51 million deficit earlier this year. The shortfall forced the state Department of Labor and Industry in March to freeze its admissions process, shutting out an estimated 700 workers who were furloughed in company downsizing because of foreign imports.
At least 3,100 workers in Pennsylvania so far this year have applied for TAA training, according to state data.
Warning
U.S. Labor Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Mason Bishop said the emergency grant -- $13 million of which will be immediately available for the state -- brings Pennsylvania's total funding to $65 million over the last year. That's nearly one-quarter of the total $220 million earmarked for TAA programs nationwide.
"We identified some management concerns with the way Pennsylvania's been running the program, and we do hope this addresses their problem," Bishop said.
But he warned: "We expect all states to try to manage their training allotment out of that $220 million [limit] from this day forward."
A recent federal Labor Department review of Pennsylvania's TAA program found that nearly every laid-off worker who applied for funding was approved by an understaffed team of state officials who sorted through thousands of applications each year by hand. The study prompted calls for investigation of mismanagement by Rep. Phil English, R-Pa., who this week demanded that the state reopen its admissions process.
Answered Gov. Ed Rendell: "Training will reopen immediately."
The state has long maintained that the deficit was the result of past Republican administrations that committed federal funding to job-training programs before it was approved.
Miners
Additionally, about 125 workers from three coal mines in southwest Pennsylvania -- Maplecreek Mining Company in Washington County and Consol Energy Dilworth Mine and Robena Prep Mine, both in Greene County -- are eligible for another $1.8 million in training funds, Bishop said.
The federal agency also earmarked $1.76 million for 830 U.S. Airways employees in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh who lost their jobs in the airline industry slump, he said.