There are no figures available on the amount of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) funds that have been spent in ex-offender employment programs or on the number of ex-offenders who have been involved in them, but virtually all of the 250 ex-offender employment programs identified in a 1978 Federal study were largely or totally dependent on CETA funds. Cuts in CETA funding began during the Carter Administration. In 1978, a peak year, CETA expenditures reached $5.8 billion. By 1980, the figure had dropped to $3.2 billion. The Reagan Administration's first budget in 1981 cut that figure even further, to $2.2 billion. To replace CETA when it expires at the end of fiscal 1982, the Reagan Administration has asked Congress to pass a new Job Training Act. The proposed bill provides for $1.8 billion in block grants to States to be disbursed through private industry councils (PIC's) under a program laid out by each State's Governor. The bill would eliminate ex-offenders as a target group. An alternative bill offered by Sen. Edward Kennedy and Sen. Dan Quayle would appropriate $3.9 million of job training during fiscal 1983, 10 percent of which would be earmarked for 'special circumstance' clients, including offenders and ex-offenders. Due to cutbacks in CETA and its proposed termination in fiscal 1982, along with the uncertainty about future legislation in this area, has forced many ex-offender job programs to look for funding from States and private sources. Given the limited resources available for such programs, it is likely that only the most efficient and effective will survive.