Senate bill proposes OSHA, MSHA budgets to remain flat for FY 2013

Washington – Next fiscal year’s budgets for OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration would remain nearly identical to the current year, according to legislation recently approved by a Senate committee.

The appropriations bill (S. 3295) (.pdf file) for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies would fund OSHA at $565.5 million and MSHA at $376.3 million between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2013. Compared to the FY 2012 budgets, these figures represent about a half-million-dollar budget reduction for OSHA and a nearly $2 million increase for MSHA. DOL as a whole would see its budget decreased to $12.3 billion in FY 2013 from $14.5 billion in FY 2012.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the bill June 14 in a 16-14 vote that fell along strict partisan lines. At press time, the bill was awaiting a vote in the full Senate, and the House had not yet introduced similar legislation.