The idea of creating a new high-level government position is always going to be received with trepidation by taxpayers. It should be. In Rhode Island, a long history of cronyism and bloated state payrolls have resulted in people taking an understandably suspicious view of such things.
But in considering the creation of a separate director-level post for the state Human Resource Investment Council, Gov. Don Carcieri is onto something that makes a lot of sense. Currently, the HRIC comes under the jurisdiction of the director of the state Department of Labor and Training.
But the present system has flaws, most notably, the fact that job training and work force development programs have become too scattered, too fragmented. As a result, too many people are falling through the cracks.
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There is consensus among business, labor and political leaders that a fragmented job-training system makes it difficult to craft a clear strategy for work force development. Such a strategy, is often a critical factor in attracting new businesses here and in helping existing companies find the skilled workers that they need.
The governor recognizes the seriousness of the problem. He wants to revamp the system by reinforcing the HRIC’s role as the primary authority over work force development programs.
The Rhode Island Economic Policy Council is working on a plan to invigorate the HRIC, by appointing new members and establishing the new director’s role. That plan is expected to be presented to the General Assembly for its 2004 session.
A revamped HRIC would return the agency to its roots. The General Assembly created it in 1992 to coordinate the state’s work force development system. Over time, the system – while well intentioned – has become far too complex.
While the state Department of Labor and Training, along with the HRIC run some programs, so do the Economic Development Corporation, the Department of Education and other state agencies. The Community College of Rhode Island has some terrific programs of its own targeting work force development.
But it is apparent that the sum parts of these efforts are not adding up.
For example, a report by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council shows that the state needs to do a far better job teaching low-income adults to read and write. Why is this so important? Because these same low-income adults represent a large segment of our work force of tomorrow. In fact, according to RIPEC, by 2010, one-fifth of the state’s work force will consist of low-income young people from inner city areas – most of whom speak English as a second language.
RIPEC Executive Director Gary Sasse believes that the fate of those workers – and a key element of the state’s economic development initiatives – rests largely on the strength of our work force development system.
“Somebody needs to grab control and serve direction to this program,” he said. “We’ve been talking about this for several years now.”
It is refreshing to see that this governor is done talking about the problem and onto the business of doing something about it. We hope that when it reconvenes in January the General Assembly attaches the importance to this issue it deserves.
And if it is the EPC’s recommendation that a separate director for the HRIC is the best approach to getting the most out of the state’s work force development programs, then lawmakers should approve that change as soon as possible.
