Welfare may stretch job training funds, lawmakers say

Saturday, Feb. 22, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

In a hearing Friday before the joint Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees, Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation head Carol Jackson said money has been set aside to help people who no longer qualify for welfare as a result of federal welfare reforms.

But Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she wanted more figures to show how welfare reform was affecting job-training programs.

"At some point we're going to have to deal with this," Giunchigliani said.

Giunchigliani said she also supported the agency's request for new computers and a Year 2000 conversion program that will update the agency's 25-year-old technology.

"This agency, whether we like it or not, will be one of the most impacted by welfare reform," Giunchigliani said. "If we want them to be accountable, we've got to give them the equipment."

But several lawmakers questioned the agency's accountability with a report that stated only 21 percent of employers were satisfied with the job performance of employees trained by the agency.

Jackson said the low total was partly due to a lack of name recognition for the agency, which changed its name during a reorganization a few years ago.

But Assemblywoman Sandi Krenzer, D-Las Vegas, called that a questionable excuse and urged the agency to try to raise levels of employer satisfaction.

The department is asking for $237 million over the biennium for programs that include job training, equal rights programs, alcohol and drug treatment and vocational rehabilitation.