Cutting to the bone

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

A lot of work that gets done in Nevada every day is performed by people who started out as apprentices. What they learned during this training period contributes to their competence level today, a level that bears heavily on public safety.

Welders start out as apprentices, for example, as do masons, roofers, ironworkers, dental lab technicians, cooks, electricians, child-care specialists and dozens of other employees in the skilled trades.

Oversight of the many training programs in Nevada is the direct responsibility of the seven-member State Apprenticeship Council, which falls under the purview of state Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek.

Tanchek has said he might propose that his office give up this responsibility in light of the state’s shrinking budget.

Substituting under that scenario would be the federal Office of Apprenticeship, whose employees would enforce federal laws that lack the scope of Nevada laws. For example, Nevada law requires that construction apprentices be paid more than the federal minimum wage, and it also stipulates a set number of experienced workers who must supervise them.

A total of 20 employees are authorized for the labor commissioner’s office, a number that hasn’t changed since 1999. Three positions are vacant and cannot be filled because of budget cuts.

Among the other duties of this office is settling wage and hour disputes — 2,787 complaints of this nature were filed by workers last year.

Tanchek’s frustration is understandable. “There’s just more coming in than we can handle,” he told Las Vegas Sun reporter Alexandra Berzon.

What isn’t understandable, though, is the sole approach taken by Gob. Jim Gibbons to the slippage in state revenues. His only answer is to cut programs — even ones providing critical services.

Three years ago a federal audit concluded that Nevada was severely underfunding its apprenticeship oversight. Now it is even more underfunded.

Gibbons and the Legislature should be offering solutions other than cuts. It is obvious that the state, dependent on volatile gaming and sales taxes, needs a more stable tax base.