This is government parasitism in its purest form: Using money seized from the public to beg to have more money seized from the public.
On Monday, District residents’ tax dollars went to pay Summer Youth Employment Program participants to attend a Council oversight session at which they lobbied for more funding for the program.
It’s just the latest outrage surrounding one of D.C.’s best-intentioned and worst-run programs.
SYEP, which hires about 20,000 D.C. youth for various minimum wage summer jobs, was budgeted at $22.7 million. But it’s already $11.5 million over budget — an overrun of 50 percent.
D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols said Monday that “the lack of fiscal discipline in the design and execution [of SYEP] is irresponsible, poses a threat to other vital District programs and the District’s fiscal stability in these austere economic circumstances.” She said this year’s cost overruns are nothing new – SYEP overspent by more than $56 million over the past two years.
Read more at NBC Washington D.C.
