By RICK HENDERSON/MANAGING EDITOR
Carolina Journal January 3, 2012
RALEIGH — T
he U. S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce
has requested that Gov. Bev Perdue provide information spelling out how
she was able in August to release North Carolina employment data that was
supposed to be protected by an embargo.
In a letter sent to Perdue Dec. 21, Committee Chairman Rep. John Kline,
R-Minn., cited a Carolina Journal Online story published Dec. 19 reporting
that Perdue, in a speech, publicly discussed information from the state’s
monthly employment report before its scheduled release.
The letter also stated that emails between the state’s Employment Security
Commission (now the Division of Employment Security) and Perdue’s office
showed information was shared that may not have been authorized by the
cooperative agreement between the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and
each state that is meant to protect the unauthorized release of protected
employment data.
A CJ Online story published Monday reported BLS had concluded that
Perdue’s August remarks before the Rotary Club of Asheville violated the
cooperative agreement with BLS. At the time, state ESC Labor Market
Information Division director Betty McGrath reported the violation to the
BLS regional office in Atlanta, and BLS Regional Director Janet Rankin
followed up with interviews of ESC officials. Rankin would not say if any
further action was taken.
The committee gave Perdue until Wednesday to produce copies of the
state’s cooperative agreement with BLS; CJ requested that and other
related information last week and was told the request was being
reviewed by DES lawyers.
In addition, Kline’s letter asks the governor to produce a series of
documents and communications, including those:
• “related to the protocols your office and [the N.C. Employment
Security Commission] have put in place to protect against the
unauthorized dissemination” of employment data;
• “relating to the potential unauthorized released of BLS data;”
• between the governor’s office and ESC relating to unemployment
data, and;
• between ESC and the U.S. Department of Labor related to
unemployment data.
Read the letter here (PDF download).
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican who represents North Carolina’s
5th Congressional District, is a member of the committee.
Attempts to get comment from the committee, Foxx, and Perdue
have not been successful.
Rick Henderson is managing editor of Carolina Journal. Executive
Editor Don Carrington also contributed reporting for this story.
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