MA Workforce Training Boards Face Budget Cuts

As feds trim the budget, resources for the unemployed could dwindle....

Workforce training programs and career centers around Central Massachusetts are facing budget cuts and an expiration of federal stimulus funds this summer that will mean a reduction in both staff and programs, workforce officials say.

As millions in stimulus funding for Massachusetts workforce centers is set to expire June 30, Congress has also entered into budget-cutting mode, recently voting to strip $182 million from the Workforce Investment Act program that funds the majority of budgets for workforce centers. Those cuts, which local workforce boards say amount to about 10 to 20 percent, will take effect July 1.