DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1983 MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1982 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 9:35 a.m., in room 1114, Everett McKinley Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Warren Rudman presiding. Present: Senator Rudman. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STATEMENT OF ALFRED M. ZUCK, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT ACCOMPANIED BY: ROBERT COLLYER, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS JANET NORWOOD, COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS THOMAS KOMAREK, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF FINANCIAL CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION SUBCOMMITTEE PROCEDURE Senator RUDMAN. The subcommittee will come to order. Today we will hear testimony from the Labor Department concerning bill language and appropriations adjustments requested for fiscal year 1982. We will also use this hearing to discuss other Labor Department issues which may be raised by Members of Congress on either the next supplemental appropriations bill or the extension of the continuing resolution. The principal witness is Mr. Al Zuck, Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management. Please introduce your associates and proceed with your opening statements, and summarize it if at all possible. INTRODUCTION OF ASSOCIATES Mr. Zuck. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On my left is Dr. Janet Norwood, with the Commissioner of Labor Statistics. On my right is Bob Collyer, the Deputy Under Secretary for Employment Standards. On my far right is Thomas Komarek, the Acting Administrator, Office of Financial Control and Management Systems, Employment and Training Administration. We also have Mr. Ford, the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Administration, in the event any questions on mine safety come up. And also Mr. Ronald St. Cyr, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Labor-Management Relations. And David Zeigler of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss the Department's fiscal year 1982 requests for supplementals, rescissions, and deferrals. I am accompanied by representatives of each agency which has a supplemental or rescission request before your committee. These individuals will be happy to respond to specific questions involving their agency programs after I have presented this overview statement. The Congress has already taken prompt action on the $2.3 billion supplemental providing additional authority needed to maintain unemployment insurance benefits and State administrative support for the unemployment insurance and employment services. The remaining 1982 changes now pending before this committee include supplemental authority to transfer-not new appropriations, but to transfer-$19.8 million to four salaries and expense appropriations, a deferral of $88.5 million in the employment and training assistance appropriation, and a rescission of $2.1 million in the Mine Safety and Health Administration funding. In the employment and training assistance appropriation, the Department is proposing a deferral of $88.5 million. This amount does not represent a real reduction in ETA resources for fiscal 1982, since the $88.5 million relates to a like amount of unplanned unobligated carryover from 1981 which is available in 1982. The Department is proposing to transfer $19.8 million of this amount to salaries and expenses accounts for four departmental agencies to enable them to continue important enforcement, data collection, and grant administration activities. As our deferral message indicates, another portion of the $88 million deferral may be used to defray the cost of the civilian and executive pay increases, when the administration forwards its overall pay supplemental policy to the Congress. Our justification materials indicate that the current estimate of additional needs for pay totals $21.7 million. The disposition of the remainder of the deferral is under review pending the establishment of final full-year funding levels for fiscal year 1982. I would like now briefly to discuss the $19.8 million in supplemental transfer funding in the four agencies. The approval of these supplemental requests to provide for the remaining 6 months of fiscal year 1982 is of paramount importance. The President's September request for 1982 salaries and expenses appropria tions brings our total end-of-year 1982 staffing levels to 19,119, a reduction of 1,972, or 9.4 percent from fiscal year 1981. When considered from the actual onboard strength of 23,357 on December 31, 1981, or at the beginning of the Reagan administration, the fiscal year 1982 end-ofyear staff levels represents a reduction of 4,238, or 18.1 percent. These numbers show that we have taken seriously the President's staff reduction goals. We believe that we are now at a barebones staff level, and that in the 1982 request are very nearly at our 1983 targets. These supplementals will simply permit agencies to operate at the already significantly reduced levels. Without these funds, agencies which have already experienced substantial reductions in force, or which have not replaced staff lost through attrition, will be forced to furlough remaining staff for significant periods of time. I believe that the kind of disruption to functions of the agencies involved that would result from furloughs is unnecessary, and I urge you to take action on our supplemental transfer requests. I will now address each agency in some detail. The Department is seeking supplemental transfer authority of $8,742,000 for the program administration account of the Employment and Training Administration. These additional funds will provide ETA with sufficient resources to maintain approved staffing levels through the end of the fiscal year. Without this added funding, ETA would be forced to furlough all staff for approximately 6 weeks, thus creating significant disruption in grant administration activities, as well as having adverse effects on staff morale and productivity-$1 million of this supplemental is for the Veterans Employment Service staff, to maintain 225 positions throughout 1982, as mandated by Congress. In addition, $1.1 million is for the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training positions, which the Congress also directed be maintained at a higher level than previously requested by the administration. ETA has already sustained a reduction in force of more than 400 staff in this fiscal year to live within approved ceilings and resource levels. This supplemental will allow the agency to maintain its reduced level without further adverse effects on program operations. The Labor-Management Services Administration seeks 1982 supplemental transfer authority of $1,157,000. This funding will restore LMSA to the 1982 budget request made by the President last September, and will allow the agency to fund critical automated data processing systems in support of its various enforcement programs. The Employment Standards Administration is seeking 1982 supplemental transfer authority of $4,259,000. These added funds will allow ESA to fully fund approved staff levels in its wage hour, workers' compensation, and executive direction activities. If the additional resources are not made available, ESA would be forced to furlough two-thirds of the entire agency staff for 15 days. ESA has already conducted a reduction in force of 215 persons to get down to the approved ceiling and resource levels. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is seeking supplemental transfer authority for $5,623,000. These additional resources are needed to fund approved BLS staffing levels and to avoid substantial staff furloughs. In addition, they are needed to continue contracts with the Bureau of the Census and State agencies necessary to assure the quality of our major employment and price statistical series. The ability of BLS to produce periodic data series, particularly in the area of prices and labor force statistics, would be seriously affected by the lack of a supplemental. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking a language change to increase the limitation found in OSHA's appropriations language on the amount that can be made available for State grants under section 23(g) of the OSHA statute. The language change further addresses the Secretary's authority to grant final approval of State plans which provide staffing levels equivalent to Federal levels. This language change does not require additional funding above the amounts approved by the Congress in the continuing resolution. The Department is seeking a rescission of $2,095,000 in the Mine Safety and Health Administration appropriation. This rescission is related to the prohibition in the continuing resolution against inspecting stone, sand, and gravel mines. The amount proposed for rescission represents unneeded funding requested initially for sand and gravel inspections. The Congress has received an amended rescission proposal from the President indicating that $2 million of the original estimate of sand and gravel savings is now being used to provide additional coal mine inspections. This concludes my overview statement, Mr. Chairman. I and my colleagues will be happy to respond to any questions you might have. EFFECTS OF POSTPONING SUPPLEMENTAL ACTION Senator RUDMAN. Thank you, Mr. Zuck. I'm sure you're aware that in the Congressional Record of February 10, 1982, Chairman Hatfield and Senator Schmitt both indicated their intention to consider added funding at the proper time on a timely basis regarding any intended layoffs of the Labor Department. Aren't these assurances sufficient to prevent the actions you're talking about until we have time to act in a timely manner on these supplementals, which is usually, I believe, late May or early June? In other words-I guess I'm combining two questions in one: Just what is the timetable, assuming nothing happens here, for the effects you have recited in your opening statement? Mr. Zuck. Certainly, Mr. Chairman, we appreciate very much the assurance of the chairman of the full committee and the chairman of the subcommittee that we should not embark upon any additional furloughs or reductions in force, and that it was likely that the supplemental transfers that we are requesting would be approved. The problem we face is that if we wait for a regular supplemental bill, the normal timing of that I believe would be for the House perhaps to report a bill sometime in June. The normal time in which we get a first supplemental is some time in the middle-if not in the |