Saturday, March 23, 2024: President Signed Budget Bill Funding US DOL/OFCCP, NLRB & Other Agencies Through End of FY 2024
Bill Covering Other Half of Funding – Including EEOC – Became Law Earlier This Month
Almost All Agencies Got Flatline Funding
Saturday afternoon, President Biden signed a $1.2 Trillion, partial budget package – H.R. 2882 – funding specified government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), through the end of Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2024 (i.e., September 30, 2024). This is FY 2024 funding for the Fiscal Year in progress since October 1, 2023 (and ending on September 30, 2024). This story is NOT about the FY 2025 funding for the next federal Fiscal Year starting October 1, 2024 (and ending on September 30, 2025).
Earlier on Saturday, the Senate passed the legislation, 74-24; the House of Representatives passed the measure on Friday by a 286-134 vote. H.R. 2882, entitled the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024,” contains the six appropriations bills remaining after H.R. 4366 became law earlier this month (see our story here). All 12 “Discretionary Budget Bills” the Congress has now passed and the 12 “discretionary” federal agency spending bills it debates each year to fund the federal agencies have now been signed into law by President Biden.
Almost all the agencies that we include in our detailed discussion below did not receive any increase in budget compared to FY 2023. The exceptions were the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration and the DOL IT Modernization project, which both suffered a decrease.
Although FY 2024 began on October 1, 2023, Congress “kicked the finalized funding can down the road” multiple times with a series of four Continuing Resolutions (“CRs”). See our story here for details on these CRs. The two spending bills signed into law this month – H.R. 4366 and H.R. 2882 – contain the finalized appropriations for FY 2024, which ends on September 30, 2024.
Also, last week, we reported the details of President Biden’s Budget Proposal for FY 2025 (beginning October 1, 2024 when the spending bills for FY 2024 (which President Biden just signed) terminate).
If you want to compare President Biden’s budgets request for this year’s now enacted budget for FY 2024, our story describing it is here.
For further comparison, our detailed story on the finalized FY 2023 budget (last Fiscal Year) is here.
Division D, Title I of H.R. 2882 lists the appropriations for the U.S. Departments of Labor (“DOL”) and its subagencies. Division D, Title IV, contains the allocation for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). The budget bill passed earlier this month, H.R. 4366, contains the allocation for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) at Division C, Title IV.
Specific Allocations
The list below details the finalized numbers allocated for FY 2024, the respective Congressional Budget Justifications (“CBJs”), and the FY 2023 finalized amounts. Links for each respective CBJ are embedded. The percentage increase numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest two decimal points. “FTEs” stands for “full-time equivalent employees.” The page numbers cited below are to the applicable pdf versions of H.R. 2882 and H.R. 4366.
OFCCP: FY 2024 allocation is $110,976,000; zero increase from FY 2023
The OFCCP’s FY 2024 budget allocation is $110,976,000 (p. 428 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as the FY 2023 (492 FTEs).
The agency’s FY 2024 CBJ requested a highly unrealistic $151,462,000 (620 FTEs). Thus, OFCCP received a 26.73 percent decrease compared to its request. OFCCP clearly was hoping they would receive close to their requested amount even though Congress has, for the past two years, been focusing on “smaller budgets” as a better direction of Congress.
EEOC: FY 2024 allocation is $455,000,000; zero increase from FY 2023
For the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), the budget allocation is $455,000,000 (p. 140 of H.R. 4366), which is exactly the same as FY 2023.
In its FY 2024 CBJ, EEOC requested a highly unrealistic $481,000,000. Thus, Congress awarded the EEOC a 5.41 percent decrease compared to its request. The EEOC has also missed the Congressional budget direction over the last two years.
NLRB: FY 2024 allocation is $299,224,000; zero increase from FY 2023
The National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) allocation is $299,224,000 (p. 573 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as its FY 2023 allocation.
The NLRB requested an unrealistic $376,000,000 for FY 2024. Thus, the NLRB received a 20.42 percent decrease compared to its request.
Other DOL Agencies
BLS: FY 2024 allocation is $629,952,000; zero increase from FY 2023
For the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”), the FY 2024 allocation is $629,952,000 (p. 437 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as its FY 2023 allocation.
In its CBJ, the BLS requested $690,370,000. Thus, BLS received an 8.75 percent decrease compared to its request.
ETA: FY 2024 allocation is $4,006,421,000; a 3.25 percent decrease from FY 2023
The Employment Training Administration (“ETA”) allocation is $4,006,421,000 (p. 408 of H.R. 2882). Its FY 2023 allocation was $4,140,911,000. Thus, ETA received a 3.25 percent funding decrease compared to last year.
ETA’s FY 2024 CBJ request was $4,420,684,000. Thus, ETA got a 9.37 percent decrease compared to its request.
ODEP: FY 2024 allocation is $43,000,000; zero increase from FY 2023
For the Office of Disability Employment Policy (“ODEP”), the allocation is $43,000,000 (p. 438 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as its FY 2023 allocation.
In its CBJ, ODEP requested an unrealistic $60,549,000. Thus, ODEP received a 28.98 percent decrease compared to its request.
OLMS: FY 2024 allocation is $48,515,000; zero increase from FY 2023
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (“OLMS” allocation is $48,515,000 (p. 428 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as its FY 2023 allocation.
In its CBJ, OLMS requested $53,469,000. Thus, OLMS got a 9.27 percent decrease compared to its request.
OSHA: FY 2024 allocation is $632,309,000; zero increase from FY 2023
For the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), the allocation is $632,309,000 (p. 433 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as its FY 2023 allocation.
OSHA’s FY 2024 CBJ request was $738,668,000. Thus, OSHA received a 14.40 percent decrease compared to its request.
VETS: FY 2024 allocation is $335,341,000; zero increase from FY 2023
The Veterans Employment and Training Service (“VETS”) allocation is $335,341,000 (pages 440-442 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as its FY 2023 allocation.
In its CBJ, VETS requested a reasonable (albeit unobtainable) $347,627,000 budget for FY 2024. Thus, VETS received only a 3.53 percent decrease compared to its request.
WHD: FY 2024 allocation is $260,000,000; zero increase from FY 2023
For the Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”), the allocation is $260,000,000 (p. 428 of H.R. 2882), which is exactly the same as its FY 2023 allocation.
WHD’s FY 2024 CBJ unrealistic budget request was $340,953,000. Thus, the WHD received a 23.74 decrease compared to its request.
IT Modernization: FY 2024 allocation is $29,269,000; a 14.59 percent decrease from FY 2023
The DOL budget contains a separate line item and justification section for “IT Modernization.” For FY 2024 the allocation is $29,269,000 (p. 443 of H.R. 2882). The FY 2023 allocation was $34,269,000. Thus, DOL got a 14.59 percent funding decrease for IT Modernization compared to last year.
The DOL had requested $79,193,000. Thus, DOL got a 63.04 percent decrease for IT Modernization compared to its request.
What Does it Mean for USDOL Subcomponent Agencies?
The practical effect is that with no budget increases, the USDOL subcomponent agencies comprising the USDOL will have to pay for the inflationary costs of doing business by either reducing headcount and/or program operations to save money at least equal to their increased operating costs.
Tilting at Windmills: “Flatline” budgets for FY 2024 were no surprise to the federal agencies since they were mandated by the June 2023 budget ceiling deal President Biden signed into law (codified as the “Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023”). That Act both raised the nation’s debt ceiling level and fixed the discretionary spending budgets for FY 2024 and FY 2025 by limiting them with strict budget caps. Specifically, the Act limited Non-Defense Discretionary spending on the federal civilian agencies in FY 2024 to not more than 1% over the FY 2023 budget amount.
So, there were no surprises here, other than that USDOL erroneously thought Congress was still in a big spend and borrow mode when it’s subagencies prepared their Budget Justifications for their FY 2024 budgets several months before Congress in June 2023 “dropped the hammer” on increased federal agency budgets for FY 2024 and FY 2025.
Now that the 2023 Congressional “hammer” drop is a reality as it has finally arrived, we have already seen frantic efforts within USDOL agencies trying to now cope with their budget misjudgments. (OFCCP, for example, finding itself 21 employees over its FY 2024 FTE allowance, and numerous agencies suddenly cutting travel to save programs and heads).
This will be a difficult coming 18-months for the federal agencies through the time of the FY 2026 budgets as they now internalize what has happened and begin to shrink down their wardrobes to fit their new shrinking sizes. But instead of mass layoffs well-known to the private sector, this will be a slow “letting the air out of the tires” experience for the federal agencies. How each agency balances the retention of employees vs. the retention of program operations will be of keen interest to employers and federal contractors. Also, whether and how the federal agencies keep up the morale and training of their employees during down-budget cycles over the next (at least) 18 months will also be noteworthy.