Funding for federal safety enforcement and workplace inspections will increase slightly in 2020, but overall funding for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be reduced by $254,000, according to President Donald Trump’s proposed 2020 budget.
The budget, released March 11, proposes increasing federal enforcement by OSHA by $4 million and increasing the number of full-time equivalent workers at the agency by 33. Whistleblower protection is also slated to receive an extra $1 million, and the number of federal inspections budgeted in 2020 is projected to rise by about 300 to 33,133.
The proposed budget also includes $3.5 million for OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s personnel will stay flat, according to the proposed budget, with mine safety and health enforcement budgeted at $253 million for 2020.
Funding for the federal Office of Workers Compensation programs also remained flat, and the budget proposes amending the Federal Employees Compensation Act by providing a single compensation rate at 66.7% of an injured workers pay and reducing benefit levels at Social Security retirement age. This proposed change would save the government $730 million over the next 10 years, and result in $220 million in net savings, said the White House in the budget.
The Trump administration’s 2020 budget proposal includes a decrease of $305 million for the U.S. Department of Labor and a 9.7% drop in the department’s discretionary funding from estimated 2019 levels, according to documents posted Monday.