For the first time practically in recorded memory, the Labor-HHS-Education budget, which includes OSHA, MSHA and NIOSH, was passed and signed into law before the beginning of the new Fiscal Year — October 1st. The final OSHA budget actually contains a $5 million increase over FY 2018 and $8.8 million over the President’s FY 2019 Request. We can thank the Senate for that, considering the final budget is a whopping $12.5 million over what the House wanted.
Highlights include:
- The total OSHA budget is $557.8 million, a $5 million increase over FY 2018
- $1 million increase for federal enforcement,
- $1.5 million increase for state plans
- $2.5 million increase for federal compliance assistance ($3.5 million will be spent on the Voluntary Protection Programs)
- Susan Harwood Worker Training Grant program continues to be funded at $10 million — despite the Trump administration’s continuing efforts to kill it.
- There are no “poison pill” riders — attempts to kill silica enforcement or OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping standard.
- The MSHA budget is level funded.
- NIOSH will receive $336.3 million (a $1 million increase over FY 2018).
- Trump’s proposal to transfer NIOSH to the National Institutes of Health and slash the NIOSH budget was rejected. Funding for the Educational Resource Centers, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Research Centers and other NIOSH programs was maintained.
- A few other Labor Department programs — Wage and Hour Division, Bureau of Labor Standards and the Office of Labor Management Standards — also got small increases although funding for employment services was cut.
A Word of Warning
But don’t get too happy. While these small increases (or level funding) are good news considering who’s in the White House and in control of Congress, funding for virtually all of the labor programs has been basically frozen for years. The total OSHA budget, and some line items like State Plan funding, are still lower than they were in 2012, as you can see in the table below. And while the budget hasn’t shown much change, the costs of operating these programs have increased, resulting in declining staffing levels and program activity.
As AFL-CIO Safety and Health Director Peg Seminario summarizes, “we have a victory holding the line, but much more work to be done.”
This blog was originally published at Confined Space on October 3, 2018. Reprinted with permission.
About the Author: Jordan Barab was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor at OSHA from 2009 to 2017, and spent 16 years running the safety and health program at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
