'They seem like no-bid contracts': DFLers expose policy rift over state job-training funds
The Legislature handed out about $16 million in grants this year to nonprofit groups aimed at curbing the wide disparity between the incomes of white Minnesotans and people of color, while foregoing the competitive process used for most other state contractors.
The direct spending, which spiked under the administration of former DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, has sparked a debate over accountability and oversight in the state’s nonprofit sector, which has been at the forefront of efforts to combat income inequality.
“Oftentimes they seem like no-bid contracts,” said Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, who chairs a committee overseeing the money and has sought changes to the annual allotment of “equity funding.”
But other lawmakers and some of the nonprofit groups say the Legislature’s direct infusion of money into nonprofits is a response to bureaucratic failure at the state’s employment agency, the Department of Employment and Economic Development, or DEED. These advocates say that for decades DEED failed communities of color and other Minnesotans who have been left behind by the economic expansion, while ignoring the potential of this vast pool of workers.
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/will-direct-funding-or-crucial-programs-close-the-minnesota-opportunity-gap/535918402/
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)