House, Senate pass budget agreement giving slight bump to OSHA
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UPDATE: This article was updated on Dec. 17 to include information on when President Barack Obama signed the budget bill.
Washington – A weekend session of Congress resulted in passage of a $1.1 trillion budget agreement that will provide stable funding to OSHA and other federal safety agencies.
The House on Dec. 11 passed the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015. The bill passed the Senate on Dec. 13.
Under the bill, OSHA would receive $552.8 million in fiscal year 2015, which goes through September. This is a half-million-dollar increase over the agency’s FY 2014 budget but falls $12.2 million short of what the administration initially requested.
The bill provides the Mine Safety and Health Administration with $375.9 million in funding, the same amount as 2014. Both the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission received small funding increases.
President Barack Obama signed the spending bill Dec. 16.
| OSHA BUDGET | ||
| Expenses | FY 2014* | FY 2015* |
| Total OSHA budget | $552.3 | $552.8 |
| Safety and health standards | $20 | $20 |
| Federal enforcement | $207.8 | $208 |
| Whistleblower enforcement | $17 | $17.5 |
| State programs | $100 | $100.9 |
| Technical support | $24.3 | $24.5 |
| Compliance assistance | $137.9 | $136.8 |
| Federal assistance | $69.4 | $68.4 |
| State consultation grants | $57.8 | $57.8 |
| Training grants | $10.7 | $10.5 |
| Safety and health statistics | $34.3 | $34.3 |
| Executive direction and administration | $11 | $11 |
| *In millions of dollars | ||