OSHA BudgetHappy New Year!!!

Hope you’re not still hung over from celebrating the dawn of Fiscal Year 2019.

Well wake up, we have some shocking and fairly good news (considering…)

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.”

FY 2019 Job Safety and Health Budget

In thousands of dollars
CATEGORYFY 2009FY 2010FY 2011FY 2012FY 2013FY 2014FY 2015FY 2016FY 2017
Omnibus
FY 2018
Omnibus
FY 2019
OSHA
OSHA TOTAL513,0422558,620558,619564,788535,246552,247552,787552,787552,787552,787557,800
Safety and Health Standards17,20419,56920,28819,96218,91820,00020,00020,00018,000 18,176 18,000
Federal Enforcement197,946223,399208,146207,753207,928207,785208,000208,000208,000 208,000209,000
Whistleblower Protection14,80615,87315,04317,00017,50017,50017,500 17,383 17,500
State Enforcement92,593104,393104,393104,19698,746100,000100,850100,850100,850 100,658 102,350
Technical Support22,63225,92025,86825,82024,34424,34424,46924,46924,469 24,46924,469
Federal Compliance Assistance72,65973,38073,38376,35561,44469,43368,43368,43370,98170,98175,981
State Compliance Assistance54,53154,79854,68857,89054,86257,77557,77557,77559,500 59,50059,500
Training Grants10,00010,75010,72910,70910,14910,68710,53710,53710,53710,53710,537
Safety and Health Statistics34,12834,87534,80534,73932,92234,25034,25034,25032,90032,90032,900
Executive Administration11,34911,53611,51311,49110,89010,97310,97310,97310,050 10,05010,050
MSHA
MSHA TOTAL347,003357,293361,8443372,524353,768375,887375,887375,887373,816 375,172 $373,816
Coal Enforcement154,491158,662160,639164,500158,713167,859167,859167,859160,000 160,000160,000
Metal/Nonmetal Enforcement82,42785,42287,64489,06386,12191,69791,69791,96794,500 94,50094,500
Standards Development3,0313,4814,3524,7654,5475,4165,4165,4164,500 4,5004,500
Assessments6,1346,2336,2217,1037,0366,9766,9766,9766,627 6,6276627
Education Policy and Development38,60538,60538,14838,32531,89836,32036,32036,32039,32039,32039,320
Technical Support30,11730,64231,03133,61332,05033,79133,79133,79135,041 35,04135,041
Program Administration15,68417,39115,90616,99815,97415,83815,83815,83815,83815,83815,838
Program Eval. and Info Resources16,51416,85718,17318,15717,42917,99017,99017,99017,990 17,99017,990
NIOSH
NIOSH TOTAL360,059373,171316,079292,588323,059332,860334,863339,121335,200 335,200326,300

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