Brunswick-based Coastal Counties Workforce Inc. has won a months-long legal battle to secure federal funding withheld by Gov. Paul LePage.

The administration dropped an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday.

“We are glad that we are now able to move past this dispute and refocus our efforts on helping Maine workers and businesses,” said Michael Bourret, executive director of CCWI.

CCWI sued the administration in October 2017 once it became clear that the governor was intent on withholding the federal funding allocated to the workforce board. The rejection was due to his long-held desire to eliminate the regional workforce boards and replace them with a single statewide board.

The administration initially denied that it was withholding funding until FOIA documents obtained by the Bangor Daily News showed that LePage had sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services rejecting $8 million in funding for the regional workforce boards.

The regional workforce boards used federal funding through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to provide job training services for the community. CCWI serves Maine counties along the coast from York to Waldo.

The federal funding is doled out in two-year periods, with the current money intended to last until mid- 2019.

“The PY17 funding that the administration is now releasing covers services from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2019,” said Kelly McDonald, the lawyer for CCWI.

In January, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock ruled in favor of CCWI and ordered the administration to release the federal funds to the workforce boards. Woodcock denied a request from the administration to allow them to hold onto the funding while it appealed the judge’s decision.

On Thursday, the governor dropped the appeal.

Layoffs, service cuts

Yet even in victory, CCWI and the other workforce boards are bloodied and bruised. Without access to the federal funds since July of last year, the boards and their contractors were forced to lay off staff and cut services. With the funds now available, CCWI says it will have its work cut out rebuilding its programs.

“We are going to be rebuilding our service delivery system, which has already begun with our service provider rehiring the staff that they had to lay off,” said Deputy Director Antoinette Mancusi. “Regrettably, our system has lost a number of talented staff and this rebuilding will take time, but we will continue to provide these vital services.”