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Washington — The House is seeking budget cuts for OSHA and other workplace safety agencies, according to separate bills published on the website of the chamber’s Appropriations Committee.
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill allocates around $557.8 million to OSHA. That’s a nearly 12% reduction from the agency’s $632.3 million budget for FY 2024.
“We must stop the out-of-control spending spree and take a critical view of some of these ‘nice to have’ programs, including those contained in this bill,” Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), chair of the Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, said during a June 27 markup. “The bill before us represents a clear first step toward returning to fiscal responsibility, while ensuring that funding for critical and high-priority functions are maintained.”
The White House is seeking around $655 million for OSHA in FY 2025, or a 3.7% increase, according to its budget request released in March. The Senate has yet to weigh in with its budget bills.
For the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the budget bill allocates $367.8 million. That’s a nearly 5.2% cut from its $387.8 million budget in FY 2024. The White House is requesting $406.5 million.
For NIOSH, the bill calls for $263.7 million – a 27.3% cut from its $363 million budget in FY 2024. The White House would like to keep NIOSH’s budget unchanged in FY 2025.
“I had hoped that our bipartisan conclusion to fiscal year 2024 and our shared exhaustion from the needless chaos we were put through to get there would have generated a different path for this year’s process,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the subcommittee’s ranking member, said during the markup. “Instead of picking up where we just left off, the majority has doubled down on their already tried, trodden and failed strategy of writing blatantly partisan bills that will never become law.”
In its Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill published on June 27, the House allocates $13.8 million for the Chemical Safety Board. That’s about a 4% cut from the agency’s FY 2024 budget of $14.4 million. The Biden administration is requesting $17.4 million for CSB.
“I look at the process this way: I would be shocked if Republicans and Democrats showed up the first day on a bill of this magnitude and agreed,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), who chairs the Appropriations Committee, said during the markup, referencing the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold. “It starts here, but it doesn’t end here. It’s always a journey. Along the way, the bill will get to a place where it can be bipartisan.”
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication