Legislative Auditor takes issue with veto rationale

Posted at 4:29 PM on March 17, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor, MN Legislature, Tim Pawlenty

When Gov. Pawlenty line item vetoed projects from the bonding bill, he included a message on his reasoning for vetoing each project.

Pawlenty's rationale for vetoing $8.5 million for Rochester Community and Technical College said "The Legislative Auditor's Report on workforce training stated no clear advantage in locating workforce centers on campuses."

The Legislative Auditor took issue with Pawlenty's rationale. In a letter, Legisatlve Auditor James Nobles wrote :

"While I appreciate your consideration of our report, Workforce Programs, your veto message is a misleading characterization of our conclusion. Our report said, "locating workforce centers on McSCU campuses can be beneficiail for certain workforce clients, but the benefits are not automatic and largely depend on local conditions."

It is also important to note that we based our conclusion on information about experiences with workforce centers currently located on MnSCU campuses. We did not evaluate the workforce center proposed for Rochester Community and Technical College and did not comment on its merits.

You can read the full report from the Legislative Auditor here.

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