US News

Waste was job 1: probe

WASHINGTON — The feds spent $18 billion a year running 47 different job-training programs that had so little oversight that funds were wasted on bar tabs, casino trips, golf shirts and even video-gaming systems, a new government report found.

About half the programs haven’t had a performance review since 2004, and only five have had an impact study to test their effectiveness, according to a General Accountability Office report.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who asked for the report, compiled a list of what he called 25 cases of “waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement” in job-training programs. Among the examples:

* The former head of an Iowa job-training facility was sentenced to more than six years in jail for receiving $795,000 in salary and bonuses over two years, and taking employees on more than 100 gambling trips.

* An Ohio program under the Workforce Investment Act had to repay $700,000 in questionable spending, including $42,000 for golf shirts, laptops, Xbox 360s and other items, state auditors found.