President Obama Jan.17 signed into law a $1.01 trillion omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 3547) that funds all federal agencies for fiscal year 2014. The Senate Jan. 16 passed the appropriations bill by a 72-26 vote and the House Jan. 15 passed the bill by a 359-67 vote. The legislation includes funding decreases for many federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board.

The omnibus package includes 12 separate appropriations bills and is the result from a series of negotiations between Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY). The spending measures outlined base discretionary funding levels set by the Bipartisan Budget Act (H.J. Res. 59) – a budget negotiated by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), whom preside over their respective Budget committees. 

Below are federal agencies’ FY14 spending levels in comparison to their FY13 figures along with specific legislation that pertains to the construction industry and ABC members:

Department of Labor (DOL) 
DOL was allocated $12B which is 3.61% less than FY13; however, DOL’s overall FY13 funding levels later dipped to $11.9B as a result of sequestration. Here a list of the FY14 funding levels for DOL’s subordinate agencies:

• Wage & Hour Division (WHD): $224,330,000 (1.39 less than FY13)
• Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS): $39,129,000 (5.41% less than FY13)
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP): $104,976,000 (.39% less than FY13)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): $552,247,000 (2.4% less than FY13)

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
NLRB was allocated $274,224,000 which is 1.65% less than FY13. The amount was $10.8M below the President’s initial budget request. 

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
Even though the appropriations legislation does not repeal or delay the PPACA, there will be no new funding for PPACA. In fact, the Prevention and Public Health Fund (“slush” fund) will see a reduction of $1B, preventing Health and Human Services from accessing these funds for PPACA exchanges.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
EPA experienced a relatively minor reduction in funding levels for FY14, even though the President’s request of $72M for EPA regulatory programs was subsequently rejected. These programs included: EPA climate regulatory programs, EPA’s regulatory development office and EPA’s water regulatory programs. 

ABC sent the following letters to the House and Senate Appropriations committees in regards to the FY14 funding levels proposed for DOL and NLRB.