While President
Bush often speaks of his commitment to working Americans and their families,
his budget proposals for the Department of Labor (DOL) consistently tell a
different story. President Bush has once again proposed deep cuts for
critical federal labor and employment programs. Overall, the Bush
Administration’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposes $10.5 billion in
discretionary budget authority for DOL, which is a $857 million (or 7.5 percent)
decrease from the 2008 level of $11.4 billion. A true sign of misplaced
priorities, the budget request includes significant cuts to worker rights and
workplace safety programs and would leave under-funded vital training and
employment services. These cuts come at a critical time when the nation is experiencing
its weakest rate of economic growth in five years, more than 7.6 million
Americans are unemployed, and 6 million more are marginally employed or working
part-time for economic reasons.
The President’s
budget would cut employment and job training programs by $465 million, or 13percent,
from Fiscal Year 2008 levels. These cuts could not come at a worse time for lower- and
middle- income American workers who are struggling to support their families in
the face of outsourcing, competitiveness, wage stagnation, and the increasing
cost of living. Nevertheless, the President is asking Congress to:
Reduce funding for
and consolidate several key programs into the new Career Advancement Accounts
program, including the:
·
Adult
employment and training activities grant program, which assists states and
territories in developing and operating job training programs for adults,
including low-income Americans and public assistance
recipients. The proposal would cut this program by $149.5 million from
the 2008 program year level.
·
Dislocated
worker employment and training activities grant program, which provides
reemployment services and retraining assistance to Americans who have been
dislocated from their jobs. The proposal would cut this program by $241 million
from the 2008 program year level.
·
Youth
activities grant program, which provides academic, employment
training, and youth development activities for low-income youth. The
proposal would cut this program by $83.6 million (or 9 percent) from the Fiscal
Year 2008 level.
·
Employment
Service State grants program, which helps unemployed workers find jobs and provides
services to employers, including administering the Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work
tax credits. The proposal would eliminate $703 million currently available for
this program, effectively destroying it and negatively impacting the more than
13 million Americans who depend on it each year.
·
Eliminate
funding for the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker program, which helps workers
acquire new skills to obtain better-paying jobs.
·
Cut
$46 million, or 3 percent, from 2008 levels for Job Corps, which is a system of
primarily residential centers offering basic education, training, work
experience, and other support, typically to economically disadvantaged youth.
·
Cut
$172 million, or 33 percent, from 2008 levels for the Community Service Employment Program
for Older Americans,
which provides part-time community service work to unemployed, low-income
Americans aged 55 and older. This cut could reduce employment
opportunities for over 30,000 older Americans.
·
Slash funding
for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). Despite the fact that at least 50
million disabled Americans experience a more than 70
percent unemployment rate, the Bush budget would cut ODEP, which works to eliminate
employment barriers to people with disabilities, by $14.8 million, or 54
percent, from 2008 levels.
·
Eliminating
14.4 million in funding for the Work Incentive Grant program, which makes grants to
help one-stop career centers assist job seekers with disabilities.
One-stop centers provide enhanced career development and labor market
information services to workers and employers.
The
President’s budget once again eliminates funding for the Susan B. Harwood
Safety Training grants program, which provides for training and education
programs on the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of safety and health
hazards in the workplace. Last year, Congress rejected a proposal to
eliminate this program, and funded it at $9.9 million for Fiscal Year 2008.
The
Bush budget would shockingly under-fund the Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA). Despite recent, catastrophic mine collapses and years of
evidence that MSHA has failed in its obligation to ensure the safety of mine
workers by aggressively regulating and inspecting this country’s mines,
President Bush cut funding to the agency by $2 million. This decrease raises
serious questions about the President’s commitment to mine safety.
The Bush budget
would drastically reduce funding for the International Labor Affairs Bureau,
which conducts anti-child labor programs, by $66.3 million, or 82 percent, from
2008 levels. These
programs have been highly successful in scaling back the number of child
laborers, down by 11 percent from 2000 to 2004. The President’s cuts would
significantly cripple these efforts.
The President also
proposes cuts to Department of Commerce programs that support workers and their
employers. The Bush budget would phase out federal funding for the Hollings
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program. The budget would cut
funding for the program by $87 million, providing only $4 million for
shutdown costs. The MEP program administers a network of centers around
the country that provide business support and technical assistance to improve
the productivity and competitiveness of small manufacturers.
The
President’s budget for workers reflects misplaced priorities. While the President has
decreased funding for programs that help unemployed persons and workers,
he has increased funding for the Office of Labor Management Standards, which
audits unions, investigates union officer elections, and, with the new LM-30
regulations, increases the burden on rank and file union members to disclose
personal financial information.