More than 1,000 jobs have been lost in Burbank and Glendale over the past year, and with job losses continuing to mount, demand for employment assistance has spiked, officials reported at the meeting.
The number of people seeking job training and other assistance at the center jumped to 7,562 in January, twice as much as the same period last year, according to a report to the workforce board two weeks ago.
Officials said the job center could ultimately receive upward of $500,000 in stimulus funding for an immediate expansion of job training programs.
Antonovich rails against state budget
Calling the new $130-billion state budget a “tax-and-spend orgy,” Los Angeles County Sup. Michael Antonovich said last week that the framework will only further weaken California’s business sector.
The county Board of Supervisors had threatened to withhold county revenues from the state in order to cover local health and social services, but that move was averted with the 11th-hour deal to pass the budget in the state Legislature.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the budget into law Feb. 20, sending the state back to 2005-06 spending levels.
Antonovich, whose district includes Burbank and Glendale, argued the budget was a “raw deal” for taxpayers who were already subsidizing excessive state spending and government growth.
Sherman critical of Obama address
Adding to the continued murmurs of frustration on local and national media outlets over a lack of specifics in President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus rallies, Rep. Brad Sherman on Wednesday said he remained wary of some of the programs in the $787-billion economic stimulus bill.
