Two high-ranking Iowa lawmakers in Washington are asking the U.S.Department of Labor to answer for the high-dollar salaries paid to managers of a central Iowa job training program. The Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium got federal money, and was periodically audited by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Congressman Jim Nussle, chairman of the House Budget Committee, have sent the head of the Department of Labor a letter, asking for answers. A 2004 Department of Labor audit identified excessive executive salaries as a problem. Grassley and Nussle want to know why the salaries weren’t reduced then.
The top three managers of the job training program earned six-figure salaries and bonuses. Grassley and Nussle say the U.S. Department of Labor “shares responsibility” for ensuring taxpayer dollars are used wisely and the two lawmakers want to know when the department first found out about the salaries and what steps the feds may have taken to do something about it. Grassley and Nussle want answers from the agency by April 21st.