SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS Senator RUDMAN. The subcommittee will now stand in recess until Tuesday, March 16, to meet at 10 a.m., in this room to begin Department of Education hearings on fiscal year 1983 budget requests. Thank you. Mr. Zuck. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [Whereupon, at 10:30 a.m., Monday, March 15, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 16.] DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1983 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1982 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, The subcommittee met at 11 a.m., in room 1114 Everett McKinley Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Warren Rudman presiding. Present: Senator Rudman. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STATEMENT OF ALBERT ANGRISANI, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF LABOR ACCOMPANIED BY: ROBERTS T. JONES, ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE T. C. KOMAREK, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF FINANCIAL CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS WILLIAM B. LEWIS, ADMINISTRATOR, UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE SERVICE SUBCOMMITTEE PROCEDURE Senator RUDMAN. The subcommittee will come to order. Today we are going to hear testimony concerning the fiscal year 1983 budget request for Federal employment and training programs. The budget proposes a major consolidation of existing programs through new legislation to replace the expiring Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. A controversial part of this proposal would also eliminate the existing jobs for the elderly program authorized under title V of the Older Americans Act. The only parts of the budget not subject to proposed legislative changes are those for State employment service and unemployment insurance operations. Here to explain these proposals is Al Angrisani, Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training. Mr. Secretary, if you would just introduce your associates and go ahead with whatever opening remarks you would like to make. INTRODUCTION OF ASSOCIATES Mr. ANGRISANI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have on my left Tom Komarek, our Chief Financial Officer. Roberts Jones, our Chief Training Administrator, and Bert Lewis, our Chief Employment Security Officer, are on my right. I would like to submit my statement for the record, if I may, and just say a few words of background. No. 1, this is my first opportunity to appear before you and it is indeed a pleasure and I look forward to clarifying any questions that the committee might have. I would just like to recap five basic points from last year that suggest the accomplishments made by my administration during a very difficult year in which we produced some $9 to $10 billion of budget cuts for the administration in the President's overall package of about $40 billion in cuts. During that period of time, we successfully phased out the public service employment portion of the CETA program, and in the process, managed to conduct our own transition employment effort which helped to ease the blow of cutting that program. We placed approximately 50 percent of our participants in other jobs or training programs. In addition to that, we managed a RIF of some 412 individuals in ETA, and we managed it in a way which caused basically no disruption to the services provided to our constituencies. Third, we were faced, Mr. Chairman, with the very uncomfortable position of having about 600 unresolved audits when we came into of fice back about a year or so ago. These audits accounted for some $300 million in funds and we were successful in resolving that audit backlog to zero and maintaining a current status in all of our audit accounts right now. In addition to that, in the unemployment and compensation programs, we successfully implemented a legislative program which will result in benefit savings of approximately $6.7 million in fiscal years 1982 and 1983 through reforms to the unemployment insurance system. Then, last, and probably a strong note for the future, we have begun the process of putting into place a very strong cash management system which ETA has never really had before, which should keep all of our accounts current in terms of audits and financial matters in general. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. PREPARED STATEMENT Senator RUDMAN. Your prepared statement will be placed in the record at this point. [The statement follows:] STATEMENT OF ALBERT ANGRISANI Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss the Employment and Training Administration's Fiscal Year 1983 budget requests. Before I address the specifics of each appropriation request, I would like to address some general principles upon which our budget is based. First, this budget assumes the passage of certain changes in entitlement programs administered by the Employment and Training Administration, specifically in the Federal Unemployment Benefits Account. The changes are proposed as part of the President's overall goal of reforming entitlements where inequities in benefits provided occur, in addition to eliminating certain work disincentives now inherent in these programs. Second, a request in the fiscal 1983 budget to be transmitted later will provide funding for job training programs to be delivered under a legislative framework that will replace the current Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) authority. The proposed legislation was transmitted to Congress on March 9. Its basic outlines include the concept of grants to States for training and employment services, the provision of a nationally administered program for certain labor market groups, and the continuation of the Jobs Corps as a separate program. The President will forward an official budget amendment for $2.4 billion as the base funding amount of this program. I will now address some of the details of our fiscal year 1983 request. The Employment and Training Administration's requests for fiscal 1983 are for $4.7 billion in Federal fund budget authority and $2.4 billion in trust fund transfer authority for a total of $7.1 billion. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, the Administration will also forward a request of $2.4 billion for the Employment and Training Assistance appropriation, to fund the new legislative program. In the Federal Unemployment Benefits and Allowances appropriation, the Administration request is $35 million. This request reflects savings anticipated from passage of three legislative proposals, which the Administration has recently sent or will forward to Congress shortly. The proposals include legislation to eliminate the additional Trade Adjustment Assistance benefit, provided over and above regular unemployment benefits, to those persons whose unemployment has been determined to be related to the adverse affects of imports. Training and employment services to these persons will be continued. This proposal is in line with the president's goals of removing the inequitities in cash payments to individuals in similar situations, and eliminating the lengthy benefit receipt. The Administration will also be proposing to limit Redwood benefits to only those persons who lost their jobs as a direct result of the expansion of the Redwood National Park on or before December 31, 1978. Again, this is an effort to limit excess benefits and to eliminate disincentives to the seeking of new employment. Finally, the Administration has proposed changes to the unemployment program for ex-servicemembers, that will limit unemployment benefits only to those servicemembers involuntarily discharged due to demobilization, reduction-in-force or disability incurred while in service. We are requesting $4.6 billion in the Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund and Other Funds appropriation to provide for general fund advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund ($4.5 billion) and to the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund ($62 million). The advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund will be used predominantly to provide loans to States with insufficient trust fund balances to meet benefit payments ($4.5 billion) although a small amount is anticipated to be required for the Federal Employee's Compensation Account ($10 million). In the Grants to States appropriation, we are requesting $2.3 billion in funding for State administration of unemployment insurance |