It Figures

$4.3 Million

Arkansas is losing $4.3 million in federal money allocated for workforce training programs, Gov. Mike Beebe said in an April 18 radio address. The U.S. Department of Labor is rescinding funding nationwide by $250 million for the Workforce Investment Act. Beebe said the $4.3 million was obligated for training contracts with colleges and other institutions to help Arkansans get jobs. He said local workforce offices could be temporarily closed and estimated that more than 1,900 people will either receive fewer benefits or none at all. Stating, the “situation reflects a gross failure of authority in Washington,” Beebe added: “Washington just can’t get its priorities in line. The monies depleted for these workforce-development programs in Arkansas could be paid for by what we are spending in Iraq in the next 24 minutes. I support our troops; that is not an issue. But the Bush administration is rescinding funds for programs that help our returning veterans get job skills to re-enter the workforce, helps workers who’ve been laid off gain new skills for new jobs, and helps the underemployed and unemployed obtain better jobs and get off taxpayer assistance.”

$1.65 Million

It met a deadline to avoid a $3.3 million performance penalty but ICF International of Fairfax, Va., the private company that runs the Louisiana Road Home program faces a new $1.65 million fine if it does not meet additional benchmarks designed to get rebuilding aid more quickly to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Louisiana officials said the company met the April 25 deadline to correct errors and provide missing documentation in 607 grant files for the recovery program and that the 330 files reviewed so far appear accurate. If it had not met the deadline, ICF would have faced a $3.3 million shortfall. However the state placed new hurdles in front of the company on the same day, according to the Associated Press. ICF now stands to lose $1.65 million if it doesn’t meet a June deadline to make grant payments in 116,000 Road Home cases, disburse more than 2,800 second payments that have been owed to applicants, and work to get more commitment letters to qualified households.

77%

Allstate Corp.’s first-quarter 2008 net income dropped 77 percent, hurt by write-downs in investments and larger-than-expected catastrophe losses. The insurer wrote down the value of fixed-income securities by $347 million because of turmoil in global capital markets. Allstate’s net income fell to $348 million from about $1.5 billion in the year-ago quarter. Operating earnings fell about 38 percent to $747 million due to catastrophe claims. Cat losses were $568 million, fueled by unusual tornado activity in the Southern U.S., an increase of $407 million over the same period a year ago. Allstate’s standard brand auto policies rose about 0.6 percent in the first quarter, and homeowner policies fell about 2.3 percent. Combined ratio for the quarter was 94 percent, up from 84.6 percent a year ago.