2020 budget proposes to maintain OSHA funding

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.