Grassley questions Labor on green jobs

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has asked the Department of Labor to account for how stimulus dollars have been spent on clean-energy jobs when it appears there is no clear definition for this type of work.

"[It] has come to my attention that the DOL is just now attempting to define what a 'green job' is," Grassley wrote in June 2 letter to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. "Interestingly, this comes more than a year after the [stimulus bill] was signed into law and after millions of dollars in funding have already been distributed for green jobs."

Grassley opposed the legislation because he thought it was too expensive. The 2009 bill provided $80 billion for such work, but the senator contends the money might have been spent in other areas.

"I'm asking how the [Obama] administration is distributing the money for what it said would go to clean-energy jobs," Grassley said in prepared remarks. "If the criteria were too broad or poorly defined, the money might be going for other kinds of spending. This inquiry is a measure of oversight to make sure the money is spent the way supporters of the legislation said it would be spent."

The senator's letter requests that the department answer the following: how much stimulus spending has already been spent on green jobs; how the department determined these jobs to be "green" without a clear definition; once a definition is created, how the department will review past payments to ensure they meet the new requirements; and whether the new definition for green jobs will be used by other departments.

"I want to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected against waste, fraud and abuse and am concerned that the DOL step of establishing the key aspects of the program after millions of dollars have gone out the door may have come too late," Grassley wrote.

The senator has requested that the department answer his questions by June 16.