[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022
----------
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 10 a.m. in room SD-138, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. Patty Murray (chairwoman)
presiding.
Present: Senators Murray, Reed, Shaheen, Merkley, Baldwin,
Blunt, Kennedy, and Braun.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
STATEMENT OF HON. MARTIN J. WALSH, SECRETARY OF LABOR
opening statement of senator patty murray
Senator Murray. Good morning. The Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education,
and Related Agencies will come to order.
Today we are having a hearing on the Biden administration's
fiscal year 2022 budget request for the Department of Labor.
Senator Blunt and I will each have an opening statement. Then I
will introduce our witness, Secretary Walsh.
After his testimony, Senators will each have 5 minutes for
a round of questions. While we are unable to have this hearing
fully open to the public, or media for in-person attendance,
live video is available on our committee website. And if you
need accommodations, including closed captioning, you can reach
out to the Committee of the Office of Congressional
Accessibility Services.
vision of the fiscal year 2022 president's budget
You know, a budget is a reflection of values and through
our hearings on President Biden's budget for the Department of
Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education, we
have seen a welcome change in values from the previous
administration, and the budget proposal for the Department of
Labor is no exception.
This budget is a message to workers across the country;
President Biden is fighting for you. Workers are the backbone
of our economy. When we invest in workers, in keeping them
safe, strengthening their rights, providing pathways for their
development, ensuring their financial security, and more, we
are investing in a stronger economy and a country for everyone.
And that is exactly what this budget, which proposes
increasing funding for the Department of Labor by 14 percent,
does. When it comes to workers' safety, this past year has been
a painful lesson on how important it is for every person to
have a safe workplace. But even before the pandemic, our Nation
saw 5,000 workplace deaths a year, one every 99 minutes. And
on-the-job deaths have disproportionately spiked for Black and
Latino workers since 2016, increasing 8 percent and 25 percent
respectively, compared to just 3 percent overall. And while we
know the economic cost of these deaths, a substantial $250
billion a year, the loss to families is immeasurable.
protecting workers and their wages
That is why the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration was founded 50 years ago, with the mission to
protect worker health and safety. President Biden's budget
would help us recommit to that mission by increasing OSHA's
(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) funding level
by 73 million from last year, and that will help the agency
hire more staff, provide more assistance to workers and
businesses, hold employers accountable to providing safe,
healthy workplaces, and ultimately save lives.
In addition to protecting workers' lives, this budget also
includes funding to protect their wages. It would provide
$276.5 million to the Wage and Hour Division, an increase of
$30 million. This agency investigates employer wage theft and
illegal compensation practices used to cheat people out of
their hard-earned wages, something which most commonly happens
to women, workers of color, and foreign-born workers. The Wage
and Hour Division recovers, on average, $1,120 per affected
employee. And they do it with a staff of barely 1,300 people
covering 148 million workers at over 10 million workplaces.
The funding in this budget would help them expand their
capacity, and put even more money back in the pockets of even
more workers who have been cheated by their employer. And
President Biden's budget not only invests in accountability for
employers in our country, but also in accountability for our
trading partners. So workers in Washington State, or Missouri,
or across the country, don't pay the price for unfair labor
practices across the world.
This budget increases funding for the International Labor
Affairs Bureau (ILAB) by over a quarter, including $19.16
million for ILAB to expand monitoring and enforcement of worker
rights under our trade agreements and preference programs, and
critical new investments to fight forced labor and child labor.
This budget also provides support to help workers
struggling in light of the economic crisis caused by COVID-19,
including the millions who have lost jobs, and especially
women, workers of color, and others who have been most set back
by it.
training america's workforce
President Biden's budget would increase funding for
registered apprenticeships by $100 million, an increase well
over half of what its budget was last year.
These are proven apprenticeship models and lead to good-
paying jobs in high-demand fields. Funding for them will help
address long-standing inequities in apprenticeships, and change
the fact that women and workers of color are historically
underrepresented in these apprenticeship programs, and in the
careers that they lead to.
The budget would also increase funding throughout the
workforce training system, including with the $203 million
increase for workforce development State grants, which help
States make investments in career pathways for youth, and
support adults and dislocated workers, including those most
affected by the pandemic, and a new National Youth Employment
Program, and Veterans Clean Energy Training Initiative.
Secretary Walsh, I look forward to hearing more about your
plans here.
modernizing unemployment insurance systems
And finally, this budget includes funding to administer and
improve State unemployment insurance systems. This COVID-19
pandemic made really clear what a lifeline that support can be,
and how outdated and inadequate some of our systems are. This
budget would help modernize our unemployment insurance system,
and address vulnerabilities, inefficiencies, and other issues
with processing these critical benefits, so families can get
the support they need faster.
Of course, the need for better unemployment insurance
systems, workforce training programs, and workplace safety are
just a few of the many issues we have to tackle in the wake of
this pandemic.
empowering america's workers
If we want a stronger economy, if we want a stronger
country it all starts with stronger rights for workers. We also
need to make sure workers are safe from pandemics, sexual
assault, and harassment, and more. We need to make sure workers
have paid family, sick, and medical leave, quality, affordable
childcare, a livable minimum wage of $15 an hour, without
exceptions, and a secured retirement.
We need to make sure workers are not disadvantaged by pay
inequality. We need to address the inequities in our economy
that makes things so much harder for women, workers of color,
workers with disabilities, and others.
And we need to defend and strengthen the right to form and
join a union, a right, which allows workers to secure better
pay and benefits, and safer working conditions. This budget is
a bold step in the right direction. And my colleagues and I
have proposed other steps as well.
Secretary Walsh, I look forward to working with you and
President Biden in the months ahead to support workers in our
country.
With that, I will turn it over to Senator Blunt for his
opening statement.
statement of senator roy blunt
Senator Blunt. Thank you, Senator Murray.
Good morning, Secretary Walsh. Welcome to the committee. I
look forward to your testimony today, and the chance to talk
about the Department's budget request for the coming year.
You know, the past 18 months have been challenging for our
country. The COVID-19 pandemic put unprecedented strain on the
economy, on its workforce, and on families who suddenly were
dealing with issues they hadn't expected to deal with, and that
families hadn't dealt with in the same way before.
Prior to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration,
the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent. That was the lowest
since the late 1960s. I think you have to assume from that,
that some of the things that we are doing that were different,
were making a difference. But at the height of the pandemic, in
April of 2020, our unemployment rate exceeded 14 percent. While
we have made great strides in bringing our unemployment rate
back down since that point, I am concerned we won't reach the
3.5 percent pre-pandemic number due to, frankly, some misguided
Federal policies, specifically the additional $300 in Federal
supplemental unemployment payments that have unintentionally
incentivized unemployed individuals to remain exactly that,
unemployed.
In May of this year, the weekly--the average weekly
unemployment check in the country was $318. That is a bigger
check than a lot of people had taken home before, and you
didn't have the expenses of going to work. And so frankly, a
lot of people did not go to work. While businesses in America
have been searching for workers, this benefit has really
misaligned the workforce needs across the Nation.
And in Missouri recently, I continue, to see ``Help
Wanted'' signs all across the State, and in my hometown of
Springfield, these help wanted signs often included hiring
bonuses, and pay well above the $10.30 minimum wage in our
State. Missouri, like many States across the country, has
decided to end the Federal supplemental payment to increase the
level of participation in the economy.
I believe that it is beginning to work, but I also believe
it is now time for Congress to recognize the importance of
balancing, providing a safety net when you need it, and
ensuring that our labor needs are met. We need to create an
environment for Americans to thrive, where people want to go
back to work, where they are encouraged to go back to work, and
where people who can't go back to work have a basic
unemployment benefit.
However, I am concerned that some of the components of the
Department's budget request, and particularly some of the
increases, don't consider this, or the very real needs of local
communities, and the needs for a workforce to be more actively
engaged. Really, too much of this budget is driven by the
politics of the administration. Now every administration
should, and has every reason to make some changes. I think this
budget makes way too many changes, in way too short a time.
For example, instead of focusing funding on flexible
workforce training, determined by States to meet their own
unique employment needs, the administration is tying training
funds in many, many cases to green jobs. I am not opposed to
green jobs. I am just opposed to the Federal Government
deciding how States approach the needs they have right now.
According to the analysis of the U.S. Energy and Employment
Report, and the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor
Statistics, when compared to jobs in fossil fuels, jobs in
solar, and wind power, employ a larger share of individuals in
their construction, rather than more permanent roles, as plant
managers, and other jobs. These jobs don't pay enough, and are
unionized at lower rates.
Mr. Secretary, I agree with you, and we have talked about
this, that we really need to target funding to the workforce of
the future. However, I think it is unlikely that the Federal
Government alone will be able to figure out what that workforce
of the future should look like. And we need to have more
involvement from States, communities, and local economies.
Now, we are going to disagree on some things in this
budget, but I am encouraged to see things we are going to agree
on. For instance, the increase of the apprenticeship program, I
think this has been, and needs to continue to be a successful
tool to allow workers to get paid while they train. And
frankly, to find out as early as possible, if what they think
they want to do is not meeting their expectations. So they
don't get way too far down a line before they realize, this is
not what I want to do.
This budget supports programs that are targeted to the
hardest hit parts of the country. For instance, the Appalachian
and the Lower Mississippi Delta regions have challenges there.
And I think your budget does what it needs to, to begin to
allow us to look at those challenges; there is support here for
veterans transitioning to civilian workforce, one of the key
priorities of this committee, and I think of this Congress.
Mr. Secretary, we are in a challenging environment. It is
going to be a difficult year. I believe we can work toward
consensus with the Department's budget, but frankly, as I have
said at our other budget hearings this year, I think this can
only be achieved by more parity between the defense and
nondefense funding. The President's budget request did not
achieve that goal. However, I remain confident that the final
appropriations bill will.
And Mr. Secretary, I am glad that you plan to be in St.
Louis tomorrow. I know we were told yesterday a couple of the
things you would be talking about: one, promoting vaccines, and
the other, the Job Corps. On the vaccine front, I was talking
about this at our leadership stakeout yesterday. I have talked
about it I think in every event I have been in in Missouri
since we started the Warp Speed effort to try to get vaccines
available more quickly.
Vaccines are a necessary, an absolutely necessary part of
us creating an environment where this virus can't continue to
replicate itself and change in new ways, and the variants are
going to be the future enemy. Vaccine is the answer to those
variants.
On Job Corps, Senator Murray, and I, and the committee have
worked together the last 6 years to increase that funding. I
know those programs continue to be programs that we can do more
with and, can look for reforms in. And I look forward to your
leadership in that area.
So again, thank you for your time here today. I look
forward to working together, as we try to be sure that
Americans, working families, have the opportunities they need,
and that our economy continues to grow. Thank you, Senator.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Senator Roy Blunt
Thank you, Chair Murray. Good morning and welcome, Secretary Walsh.
I look forward to your testimony on the Department of Labor's fiscal
year 2022 budget request.
The past 18 months have been challenging for our nation. The COVID-
19 pandemic put unprecedented strain on our economy and its workforce.
Prior to the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration, the
unemployment rate was at 3.5%, the lowest since the late 1960s. At the
height of the pandemic, in April 2020, our unemployment rate exceeded
more than 14%. While we have made great strides in bringing our
unemployment rate back down since that point, I'm concerned that we
won't reach that 3.5% pre-pandemic number due to misguided federal
policies.
Specifically, the additional $300 in federal supplemental
unemployment payments have unintentionally incentivized unemployed
individuals to remain exactly that: unemployed. While so many
businesses in America are searching for workers, this excessive benefit
seems misaligned with the workforce needs across the nation.
When I was in Missouri recently, I saw ``help wanted'' signs across
the state. In my home town of Springfield, these ``help wanted'' signs
included hiring bonuses and pay well above the $10.30 minimum wage in
the state. Missouri, like many states across the country, has decided
to end the federal supplemental payment to increase the level of
participation in our state's economy. And I believe it is now time for
Congress to recognize the importance of balancing providing a safety
net, when needed, with ensuring that our labor needs are met.
We need to create an environment for Americans to thrive--where
people want to go back to work, where they are encouraged to go back to
work, and where people who can't go back to work have a basic
unemployment benefit. However, I am concerned that some components of
the Department of Labor's budget request, and particularly some of the
increases don't consider this or the very real needs of the local
communities. Instead, too much of the budget is engrossed in the
politics of this Administration.
For example, instead of focusing funding on flexible workforce
training determined by states to meet their own unique employment
needs, the Administration is tying training funds to ``green jobs.''
Yet, according to an analysis from the U.S. Energy and Employment
Report and the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, when
compared to jobs in fossil fuels, jobs in solar and wind power employ a
larger share of individuals in their construction rather than in more
permanent roles as plant operators; these jobs also don't pay as much,
and are unionized at lower rates.
Mr. Secretary, I agree with you that we should target funding to
the workforce of the future. However, I think it's wrong for the
federal government to dictate what that workforce should look like, and
for bureaucrats in Washington, DC to determine the speed at which we
get there. That should be left up to states, to communities, and to
local economies.
While we may disagree on this point, there are many components of
the budget request on which we do agree. I'm encouraged to see an
increase for the Apprenticeship Program--which has been a successful
tool to allow workers to get paid as they train--support for programs
targeted to the hardest hit parts of our country--in the Appalachian
and Lower Mississippi Delta regions--and support for our veterans
transitioning to the civilian workforce.
Mr. Secretary, we are in a challenging environment and this is
going to be a difficult year. I believe we can work toward consensus
with the Department's budget, but as I have said at other FY2022 budget
hearings this year, this can only be achieved when there is parity
between defense and non-defense funding. The President's budget request
did not achieve this goal. However, I remain confident that final
appropriations bills will.
Thank you for your time here today. I look forward to working with
you to strengthen our nation's workforce and create a more prosperous
economy for all Americans. Thank you.
Senator Murray. Thank you, Senator. Thank you.
And with that, we will turn to Secretary Walsh. Welcome to
our committee. And you may begin your testimony.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF HON. MARTIN J. WALSH
Secretary Walsh. Thank you very much, Chairwoman Murray, I
appreciate it; and Ranking Member Blunt, and the members of the
subcommittee, thank you for having me today.
I look forward to aligning the Biden-Harris
administration's version of the Department of Labor's fiscal
year 2022 budget and beyond. And I am excited to be here in
person. This is my second in-person hearing. My first was my
confirmation. So if I make some mistakes, bear with me until I
get used to this process. So I truly appreciate it.
I want to just start by saying how humbled and honored I am
to be here, as the son of Irish immigrants, and a member--my
father was a member of the Labors Union in Boston, to lead the
Department of Labor. Just to think about their journey to
America, and having their son sitting in front of Congress--in
front of the Senate today.
I also believe, as the President says, we are at an
inflection point in our Nation's history right now. We are
coming out, as was mentioned a couple of times, of a pandemic
that has taken over 600,000 American lives. And it has pushed
working people to the breaking point in so many different ways,
in so many different corners of our country.
The President and Congress worked together to pass the
American Rescue Plan. It changed the course of the pandemic. It
delivered relief to the American people, and it certainly set
us on a pathway to recovery. At the Department of Labor, the
team over there is working hard to implement this plan, from
strengthening our unemployment systems to fully subsidizing the
corporate premiums, to protecting workers' health and safety.
But there is certainly much more work to be done. We need
to build back better. That means putting workers at the center
of a more resilient, more inclusive, and ultimately more
competitive economy as a country. That is what the President's
economic vision is all about.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework negotiated with
members of the Senate would rebuild our communities and create
millions of good jobs all across this country. And the Build
Back Better agenda would make historic investments in working
people through job training, and education, which I think we
can all agree on, the CARES economy, and paid family leave, and
medical leave, and workers' rights and protections.
BUDGET INVESTMENTS
Building on that vision, the Department of Labor's fiscal
year 2022 budget request proposes an investment of $14.2
billion. That is, as the Chairwoman mentioned, a 14 percent
increase over 2021 enacted levels. That includes $3.7 billion
in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Acts, and the Wagner
Peyser state formula grants. It is an increase of 6 percent.
That is about creating more pathways to good-paying jobs for
workers who need them the most. And we have seen it with people
unemployed now, and underemployed, the opportunity to make
those investments.
This budget also would invest $285 million in registered
apprenticeship programs. That is an increase of $100 million
that would allow us to expand and diversify a model of economic
mobility that has proven to produce results for both workers
and employers all across this country.
For unemployment insurance, we would fully fund and update
the formula for what States receive to administer UI
(Unemployment Insurance), it is the first update, quite
honestly, in decades. We also request $100 million for
technology solutions to prevent fraud and ensure access to UI
benefits for all people that need them.
For our worker protection agencies, this budget requests
$2.1 billion, a 17 percent increase. We need to rebuild and
strengthen our capacity to protect workers, wages, benefits,
and rights, and safety on the job sites.
This budget also requests $100 million for the multiagency
POWER Plus Initiative that is aimed at empowering displaced
workers in coal communities with new--with new skills and new
job opportunities. And it requests $20 million for a new
program to help veterans. The ranking member mentioned this. It
is transitioning services for members and military spouses to
get good careers in clean energy.
It was developed with the Department of Labor--with the
Department of Labor's Department of Veterans Affairs. Across
the Department of Labor's work, this budget invests in those
who have been shut out of economic opportunities in the past,
from women, and people of color, to rural Americans, and
veterans, to at-risk youth, justice-involved adults, and people
with disabilities.
The pandemic proved that the systems failing some workers
end up failing all workers, and failing our country,
ultimately. But we have an opportunity to do better now, coming
out of the pandemic. We can empower all American working
people. It is a moment in history when we need to move forward
together, we need to come together.
Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member, thank you for the
opportunity; I know that we will have many more conversations,
and we will work together to support the economic recovery that
works for all American workers.
I look forward to discussing the budget proposals and
requests with you and the committee today. And I am happy to
respond to any questions that you have. And if I do not have an
answer to your question, I guarantee you our team will get back
to you in the next couple of days with questions--answers that
I don't have today. So thank you.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Martin J. Walsh
Chairwoman Murray, Ranking Member Blunt, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am
pleased to appear before this Subcommittee for the first time and to
outline the Biden Administration's vision for the Department of Labor
in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and beyond. I am honored and humbled to lead
the Department in its critical work.
The Department's mission is to foster, promote, and develop the
welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United
States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for
profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
This mission is personal to me and my family's story. My father's
participation in the Laborers Union, Local 223 in Boston, was the
pathway to a fair wage, so my family was not worried about housing
insecurity. My parents had a safe workplace, so I never knew the fear
of them not returning from work. The job came with a pension, so my
parents could retire with dignity. And the job included health
insurance, so that when my parents experienced the worst nightmare of
having a child diagnosed with cancer, they had health insurance so that
I could be treated and recover.
Years later, I followed my father into construction and joined the
same union, and experienced those same benefits of having a safe
workplace, health insurance, a fair wage, and a pension. These are not
abstract policies--these are life-changing rights. I have spent my
career fighting for the rights of working people as a State
Representative, as General Agent for the Metro Boston Building Trades
Council, and as Mayor of Boston. I feel privileged to continue this
work as the Secretary of Labor.
american rescue plan
As a former Mayor, I know that our communities--and our families--
have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. That's why it was so
important that Congress worked with President Biden to pass the
American Rescue Plan (ARP) to change the course of the pandemic and
deliver immediate relief for American workers. In terms of jobs, not
only did the ARP extend unemployment insurance benefits for our friends
and neighbors who lost their jobs during this pandemic, but it also
laid the groundwork for shoring up and modernizing our unemployment
insurance system to help workers get the benefits they deserve when
they need them. The ARP also helps workers who lost their jobs or had
their hours reduced pay for health insurance by fully subsidizing COBRA
premiums for eligible individuals from April 1 through September 30 of
this year. And it provides additional funding for the Department to
help keep vulnerable workers healthy and safe. Finally, ARP also
distributes more than $360 billion in emergency funding for state,
local, territorial, and Tribal governments to ensure that they are in a
position to keep front line public workers on the job and paid, while
also effectively distributing the vaccine, scaling testing, reopening
schools, and maintaining other vital services. We appreciate this
landmark law, and we are working hard to ensure that this law is
implemented in the way that Congress and the President intended to
reopen our economy.
american jobs plan
As a former construction worker, I know a good job can change your
life. One of the most important things we do at the Labor Department to
improve the economy and strengthen the workforce is help people pursue
training that leads to good jobs and helps close racial and gender
equity gaps throughout the economy. The President's American Jobs Plan
is a historic investment in the working people of America. It will
create millions of good paying, family sustaining jobs that rebuild the
middle class by empowering our workers to build America's future.
The President's plan provides funding for sector-based training
programs focused on growing, high-demand sectors, such as clean energy,
manufacturing, and caregiving, helping workers of all kinds to find
good-quality jobs in an ever-changing economy. In addition, the plan
provides for a new Dislocated Workers Program that provides
comprehensive supports for workers who have lost jobs through no fault
of their own, to ensure they are able to successfully participate in
training that can prepare them for in-demand jobs. The plan will
prioritize workforce development opportunities for underserved
communities and ensure job opportunities are open to, and support,
women, people of color, people with disabilities, and people impacted
by the criminal justice system, among other disadvantaged groups.
Further, subsidized jobs programs will support unemployed and
underemployed workers who have faced significant barriers to employment
to gain a key foothold in the labor market. Additional investments to
establish more pathways to good jobs include creating up to two million
new registered apprenticeship slots, while strengthening access for
women, people of color, and individuals with disabilities; creating
career pathway programs in middle and high schools, including those
that increase access for underrepresented students to computer science
and other STEM sectors; and supporting community college partnerships
that build capacity to deliver job training programs that lead to good
jobs. The plan also makes key investments in expanded career services
and adult literacy programs to equip job seekers with the tools,
information, and foundational skills they need to be successful in the
labor market.
The plan provides critical funding to strengthen the capacity of
our labor enforcement agencies to prevent discrimination, protect wages
and benefits, enforce health and safety rules, and strengthen health
care and pension plans. In addition to these investments, the President
is calling for increased penalties when employers violate workplace
safety and health rules, which have proven inadequate to address
serious violations.
fy 2022 budget: supporting america's workers through the pandemic to
recovery
Building on the American Rescue Plan and the American Jobs Plan,
the Department's FY 2022 budget proposes investments in workers and in
our country's future: a future of opportunity and shared prosperity, a
future of robust job growth and a thriving middle class, a future where
workers nationwide get the skills and training that leads to jobs that
pay a fair wage without risking their health or safety. The
Department's budget requests an investment of $14.2 billion in
discretionary resources, which is a 14 percent increase above the FY
2021 enacted level.
The budget includes resources to expand training opportunities,
supporting workers and building a better future. There is no single
path to a good-paying job, and the country's future growth and
prosperity depend, in part, on ensuring workers have multiple pathways
to high-quality, good-paying jobs. To that end, the budget requests
$3.7 billion, a six-percent increase, for the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act and Wagner Peyser state formula grants to make
employment services and training available to more dislocated workers,
low-income adults, and disadvantaged youth hurt by the economic fallout
from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The budget also invests additional resources in programs that serve
marginalized groups, such as justice-involved individuals, at-risk
youth, and vulnerable veterans. While higher-income earners have
recovered many of the jobs lost, workers in low-wage industries have
experienced persistent net loss. As seen in the June 2021 Employment
Situation, disparities among workers continue, and over 5.7 million
jobs that existed last February are yet to return. While the overall
unemployment rate was 5.9 percent, the African American unemployment
rate was 9.2 percent and the Hispanic rate was 7.4 percent, compared
with 5.2 percent for Whites. For individuals with disabilities, the
unemployment rate was 10.9 percent. Due in large part to the impact of
the pandemic, there are roughly 3.4 million fewer women working now
than there were in February 2020--and many women have had to reduce
their hours, often in response to caregiving demands. Women,
particularly women of color, continue to face barriers to good jobs
with equal pay. The budget prioritizes investments in these communities
of color, with a goal of increasing success for all groups, because
systems that are failing these populations are failing us all.
The Department will continue to invest in proven approaches, such
as expanding the Registered Apprenticeship model by investing $285
million, an increase of $100 million, which will allow the Department
to create a more balanced apprenticeship portfolio, support states'
efforts to implement a reauthorized National Apprenticeship Act, and
further the development of youth apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship
opportunities, all while increasing equity for under-represented
populations. Registered Apprenticeships provide a pathway to good-
paying jobs, and as Secretary of Labor, I am committed to expanding
these opportunities across the United States, in order to help rebuild
the middle class and create millions of new opportunities for workers
to enter into relevant, high quality training that both protects
workers' rights and propels workers into career paths that provide a
sufficient and fair wage. Registered Apprenticeships produce strong
results for both employers and workers. The Department's investments in
Registered Apprenticeship will work to address the systemic disparities
that have impacted women, people of color, and other under-served and
under-represented populations.
This last year has again demonstrated that Unemployment Insurance
(UI) is an essential social insurance program and economic stabilizer,
and it has been a lifeline to millions of workers and to the economy
throughout the pandemic. Yet the pandemic uncovered longstanding
problems in the UI system, including the challenges facing states'
administration of their UI systems. These systems, in part as a result
of persistent underfunding and inadequate technology, have been plagued
by delays and obstacles that disproportionately affect workers of
color. When benefits are slow to reach workers who have lost their
jobs, it delays both their recovery and negatively impacts the country.
To address these challenges, the budget provides resources to ensure
States can better handle higher volumes of claims and be better
prepared for future crises or high unemployment levels. The budget
request fully funds and updates the formula for determining the amount
states receive to administer UI--the first comprehensive update in
decades. In addition, the budget requests $100 million to support the
development of information technology solutions that can be deployed in
states to ensure timely and equitable access to benefits. The $100
million increase will further support and complement the resources the
Department was appropriated under the American Rescue Plan to prevent
fraud, promote equitable access, and ensure timely payment of benefits.
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken stock of the challenges
the unemployment system faces and developed a set of high-level
principles that should guide future efforts to reform the UI system.
Those principles include ensuring adequate benefit levels and duration
for unemployed workers; ensuring the UI system can ramp up quickly and
automatically in response to recessions; addressing the lack of access
to UI for workers misclassified as independent contractors, low-income
and part-time workers, and workers with non-traditional work histories;
shoring up UI trust funds; and improving UI program access and
integrity.
The budget request includes $2.1 billion--a 17 percent increase in
funding--for our worker protection agencies, enabling the Department to
conduct the enforcement and regulatory work needed to ensure workers'
wages, benefits, and rights are protected, address the
misclassification of workers as independent contractors, and improve
workplace safety and health. These are the staff who recover back wages
owed, help prevent fatalities and life-altering injuries or illnesses,
respond to whistleblower complaints, reduce exposure to cancer-causing
agents, help ensure retirees get their benefits, and address pay
inequities.
Over the past four years, the Department's worker protection
agencies have lost 14 percent of their staff. A lack of enforcement
makes workers more vulnerable to workplace violations. The President's
budget reverses this trend by proposing $304 million in additional
funding for the Department's worker protection agencies, including $73
million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, $67
million for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, $35 million for
the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, $31 million for the
Wage and Hour Division, and $37 million for the Employee Benefits
Security Administration.
The budget continues the President's commitment to tackling the
climate crisis. For the Department, the request includes an additional
$100 million investment in an initiative as part of the new Interagency
Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic
Revitalization, aimed at reskilling and reemploying displaced workers
in legacy energy communities. The request also includes $20 million for
a new discretionary program, developed in collaboration with the
Department of Veterans Affairs, which is focused on helping
transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses to pursue
careers in clean energy, which will help combat climate change, while
preparing this population for good-paying jobs.
I know we will have a lot of conversations, as we collaborate on
the American Jobs Plan and the FY 2022 Budget. I look forward to those
collaborations and partnering with you all to invest in the nation's
economic recovery. The Department plays an important role in expanding
opportunity.
Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member, thank you for the opportunity to
testify. I look forward to discussing our budget request with the
committee, and I am happy to respond to any questions you may have.
Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. We will
now begin a round of 5-minute questions of our witness. I ask
our colleagues to please keep track of your clock and stay
within your allotted time.
OSHA INCREASES IN THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
I appreciate that the budget addresses the need to rebuild
and strengthen the capacity of the occupational safety and
health administration. Under the previous administration, OSHA
didn't do more than issue non-binding guidance on how employers
could protect workers from COVID-19. And that left a lot of
workers exposed, as we witnessed thousands of deaths and
illnesses of workers in healthcare, and meat packing, and other
essential industries.
Now, the Biden administration recently issued an Emergency
Temporary Standard, but it does not yet cover all frontline
workers. And as you know, OSHA received $100 million in the
American Rescue Plan, which it plans to use to support more
than 80 compliance and safety health officers, among some other
priorities. But as the economy continues to reopen, and more
contagious COVID variants emerge, workers need OSHA to be fully
engaged in its job of making sure employers provide a safe
workplace for their employees, and their workers.
So I wanted you to describe for the committee this morning,
your plans to use those ARP (American Rescue Plan) funds to
hire the staff OSHA needs to do its job, and how quickly do you
expect to get these staff on the job.
Secretary Walsh. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. OSHA is
one of the areas that, when I was sworn in, work had already
begun there, due to the help of the American Rescue Plan, and
investments in staffing up. They were severely understaffed to
be able to make sure that we keep our workplaces safe in
America. Certainly, we have a difficult time keeping up with
the average volume of business, but if you throw COVID-19 and
the atrocities of some of the workplaces in our country with
COVID-19, it made it very complicated.
We are currently in the process of hiring up and staffing
up in OSHA so that we can have more inspectors to go out to job
sites. Quite honestly, I would love OSHA, at some point--we are
asking for an increase in this budget--I would love OSHA at
some point to get to a point where we are not responding to
accidents on the job site, that we are actually being proactive
working with businesses, in how do we create better, safer work
conditions, and work sites.
We are not at that point right now, so we are at the point
where we are still looking to staff up, and hire up. And also
just--and I have spent many, many hours on Zooms with the OSHA
employees across the country, just thanking them for their
work, because throughout the pandemic OSHA employees went to
work every day. They didn't have the luxury of sitting home on
a Zoom and doing their job. They had to be on a job site. They
had to be touring facilities, and they had to see some of the
toughest situations out there. So I look forward to working
with this committee and continuing the staffing up of OSHA.
OSHA INCREASES IN FISCAL YEAR 2022 BUDGET
Senator Murray. Well, the budget requests an increase of
$73 million for OSHA in fiscal year 2022. Can you describe why
those funds are needed in addition to the ARP funds that were
provided?
Secretary Walsh. Yes, because--thank you. With the ARP
funds as it just--it restores us back to where we were pre-5-
years-ago. What the new funds allow us the opportunity to do is
expand the office and to get into some of the other work that
we want to do. People should not be, businesses should not look
at OSHA as a burden. People should be looking at OSHA as a
partner, and being able to create opportunities to help create
safe work environments.
When I was a young person working on construction sites,
and OSHA came on the job, they would come on the job to
investigate, but they were not investigating after an accident
happened, they were not investigating after a tragedy happened,
they were making sure that there were proper procedures in
place there to make sure that workplaces are safe.
We need to do work around this country to make sure that
our workplaces are safe, that workers are safe. And that we
collectively work with businesses as well as we move forward
here. So that additional revenue will go into continuing to
hire up in OSHA, and to create better opportunities to
training, and to have the best prepared--OSHA inspectors we
have in the country.
Senator Murray. You didn't mention whistleblower
complaints, but I understand that last year the inspector
general reported a significant increase in complaints, and
insufficient staff to investigate those complaints. What are
you going to do to address that issue?
Secretary Walsh. Again, it is about the staffing when--I
might have the numbers wrong--let me just get the numbers here
for you. We are going to double the number of inspectors by the
end of the administration, the first administration, Biden-
Harris administration, the first term, we are about--we were at
about 360 inspectors in the country, inspecting about 170
million workers in our country. That certainly is not going to
do the job.
So what we are doing here is making sure that we have
enough inspectors out there that when an employee calls the
office with a complaint, we are able to respond to that, and
not have it sit in a pile, or sitting in an inbox somewhere.
And again, it is about when you think about whether it is OSHA,
Wage and Hour, the Department of Labor was down about 3,000
employees to where it was 4 years ago.
And when you are down employees in the Department of Labor,
the Department of Labor is an agency, as you know, that is out
there protecting workers. If we don't have the staff and don't
have the employees to protect the workers, then we can't be on
the job sites, we can't be checking Wage and Hour, we can't be
making sure that people are working in safe conditions.
So our intention, with this investment that we are asking
for today, and with the intention of the American Rescue Plan,
to staff back up, to build back pre-4-years-ago level, but also
enhance that.
Senator Murray. Okay. I have a number of other questions,
and I am going to ask them at the end, so our other committee
members can have their time.
I will turn to Senator Blunt.
CREATING A WELL-PREPARED WORKFORCE
Senator Blunt. Thank you, Chair. Let me start with a
question that is really going to be more of a question I will
follow up with later, but I want to be sure we cover this. You
and I have talked about this before, Mr. Secretary, the idea
that people don't get the information they need early enough to
decide what kind of job is out there, what their personal sense
of job satisfaction would be, and what those jobs pay.
A few years ago I went with the Secretary of Labor to the
Carpenter Training facility in St. Louis, and as we visited
individually, the people, at the end of that visit, they were
all in their late-20s; they all had a similar story, and it was
sort of that lost decade of not knowing what they wanted to do,
or not having information about the importance of benefits, the
importance of job satisfaction.
And we have looked at that as sort of a lost decade that we
would like to avoid. It is hard to recover, frankly, from that
lost decade. You ask for $10 million to continue to pursue that
in your budget. The Secretary of Education didn't ask for the
$10 million education had last year. We put $10 million in both
budgets.
At some point when you have had time to think about this
more, I am going to ask you, I will be asking the Secretary of
Education what the two of you are doing to try to close that
gap between getting the information you need. If you want to
talk about the importance of knowing what jobs are out there
sooner rather than later. Just let me let you do that for a
moment.
Secretary Walsh. No. Thank you, ranking member. And to be
quite honest with you, I want to ask--add another component to
that: the Secretary of Commerce. So the Secretary of Commerce,
Gina Raimondo; the Secretary of Education, Secretary Cardona,
and myself, have had conversations. And when you think about
the jobs of the future, the three of us, the three of our
departments catch people--catch employers in educational
opportunities to prepare people for the future.
So what we are doing is, we are working collectively
together to make the investments. Gina Raimondo is working with
the business community as well as I am, to find out where the
gaps are, where they need employers--employees now, and in the
future, working with education on how do we create those
programs in our primary schools, in our high schools? How do we
create those opportunities in community college moving forward?
And the Department of Labor is offering--obviously has the
workforce development grants, and the workforce grants to be
able to fund those jobs. So it really has to be real
intentional work that we are doing here to make sure that this
money that we are asking for today, and the money through the
rescue plan, and potentially, through the CARES Economy Plan,
that this investment is preparing workers of the future.
ADAPTING TRAINING PROGRAMS TO MEET INDUSTRY NEEDS
You just said it yourself. I mean, when you think back and
look at the history of this country, and you look at the
investments that were made in the '50, and '60s and '70s, lots
of schools around America had training--had Vo-Tech schools,
and they were doing Vo-Tech training, and young people that
were going to those programs were going into the trades. That
would become an electrician, plumber, carpenter, laborer, and
mechanic, what have you.
Many of those programs are very different today. And I
think we are at a moment in time, coming out of a pandemic, or
getting through a pandemic, I should say--we are not out of it
yet--that we have an opportunity right now to retrain and
reskill workers, young people, as well as some older workers as
well, into those careers. But it has to be a coordinated
effort, it has to be the secretaries of commerce, labor, and
education, and it has to be Democrats and Republicans, quite
honestly.
Senator Blunt. All right. I am going to run out of time
here. I agree with that, but the component I want to be sure we
continue to add is like those Vo-Tech programs.
I was at a great new facility in Buffalo, Missouri, the
other day that they are building, and being focused again,
people need to know, sooner rather than later, what jobs are
out there, what those jobs pay. A lot of jobs that have that
kind of training actually produced greater satisfaction and
more income than jobs that you have a college degree for. And
sharing all that information early is important.
One way to create an early sense of what you want to do are
apprenticeships. Missouri, where you will be tomorrow, is
ranked second in the United States in apprenticeships. We are
working toward a goal in our State of having 20,000 active
apprenticeships by 2025. The one thing left out of that, it
appears to be the nontraditional industries and what we can do
to develop apprenticeships outside of the well-run trade union
programs, and other programs. For instance, like healthcare,
cybersecurity, even finance. What can we be doing to think
about how we expand that apprenticeship opportunity to new
fields?
Secretary Walsh. Well, what I have been doing, and what we
are going to continue to do is talk to companies, the tech
companies as well. We have opportunities in tech, and biotech,
and high-tech, and even pharmaceuticals. So having
conversations with those industries on how we create pathways
into those industries would be important. Those are good-paying
jobs, and they are looking for people.
And quite honestly, we have a huge opportunity right now in
this country to really think about those apprenticeships, and
how do we create more apprenticeships; and the beauty is--I
know my time is over--the beauty is, is the apprenticeships you
are paying while you are learning. And that is the difference
between workforce development and job training. You are
actually getting paid in the apprenticeship while you are
learning on the job.
Senator Blunt. Right.
Secretary Walsh. And that allows a person that might be
unemployed or underemployed right now, to get on-job
experience, real-life experience moving forward.
Senator Blunt. Thank you, Secretary. I will have some more
questions also later, Chairwoman. And thank you for the time.
Senator Murray. Thank you.
Senator Reed.
SHORT-TERM COMPENSATION PROGRAM
Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman.
And congratulations, Secretary Walsh, I am glad you are
there in the Department. Let me raise the first question about
the Short-Term Compensation Program, or otherwise known as
``work sharing''. After the last recession in 2010/2009, it is
estimated that we saved 570,000 jobs. And I know Congress and
the Biden administration stepped up and they are providing
fiscal support for this program, and it is saving tens of
thousands of jobs.
And as you know, what it does is it basically provides 1 or
2 days on unemployment compensation while the individual works
at the facility. Can you explain how, and if you will continue
to support this program, and try to extend it to every State in
the union?
Secretary Walsh. Thank you very much, Senator. And thank
you for raising this issue. Work sharing certainly is an
important and innovative tool. I agree with you, and I wished
that we had seen it across the States, and we want to see it
across the States. I think it is going to be very important for
the future of our workforce. It is important that we continue
to explore that. I am going to, as Secretary of Labor; our
Department is. The Department is certainly committed to
promoting State adaptation of this program.
And we are going to continue to find ways to increase
awareness and participation in the program. We have seen--you
have seen the benefit of it, and I think that--and workers are
seeing the benefit of it. And I think that those are
opportunities for us throughout the United States of America
for other States, and other workers, more honestly, to see the
benefit as well.
So I know that, Rhode Island, they have been a leader on
this, and I want you to know that I want to continue to work
with you, and maybe some of the other members of the Senate, in
governance, quite honestly, around the country to expand the
program.
DEMAND-DRIVEN TRAINING PROGRAMS
Senator Reed. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Switching gears a
bit, I secured about $28 million in the Defense Appropriations
Bills for a submarine, industrial-based support of workers, and
of training, and education initiatives. And I think you have
seen one of these when you visited Westerly, Rhode Island, and
saw our training program, where our Department of Labor,
together with Electric Boat collaborates. And I think this is
another example of what Senator Blunt was getting at. This
demand-driven model for training, it is not the old-fashioned:
We turn out X, we have always done that. It is: What does
business need?
And up in our place where Electric Boat, over the next
several years, is going to have to hire 17,000 people, many of
them machinist, welders, et cetera. So how are you going to
continue to work with the Department of Defense to support
programs like this, and with other agencies to support demand-
driven programs?
Secretary Walsh. Well, first of all, thank you for your
work on this. Ranking Member Blunt talked about this as well. I
think first I want to say is that, the jobs that you work with
your hands are now computer jobs, meaning that you have to have
not just the skill to be able to be the craft person working
with your hands, but you need to be able to learn and read off
a computer because the work has gone so technical.
The Department of Labor has just awarded the State of Rhode
Island a $3 million--$3.9 million grant to expand registered
apprenticeship opportunities. I think that this is one of the
areas that we have such a great opportunity. Electric Boat is a
great example. I was in Connecticut; we went through Rhode
Island to get to Connecticut. I know there is facility in Rhode
Island, as well, and the expansion that was going on there, and
the opportunity for employees.
I guess the best way I can sum it up is what I am going to
do about it is make sure that these investments are there, and
that we work with companies like Electric Boat, but the human
side of it. When I was at Electric Boat, I was talking to a
couple of apprentices that were standing there next to me, and
I got to talking with them.
And I am like: What are you doing? You know, did you go to
college? One kid went to college a little while, dropped out.
It wasn't for him. I told them my story. I dropped out of
college after a-year-and-a-half.
He is now on a pathway to a career. He is on a pathway to
working on submarines for the United States of America. He is
on a pathway to doing some amazing work. He is proud of his
work. He is happy with what he does. He told me he is earning
good money. He is making a living. He is able to raise a
family.
That is the type of stories that we need to continue to
happen. So I think it is incumbent upon us. If I do anything as
Secretary of Labor, it is making sure that the money in the
workforce development grants, in the apprenticeship program,
money that we get, we get out in the street because that, that
is going to be the fundamental, biggest game changer in the
United States of America, to get workers retrained, or workers
trained, and the ability to raise and get into the middle-
class. That is what we can do. That is the one thing. If I
accomplish anything and I do that, I will be happy.
COMBATING LITERACY ISSUES
Senator Reed. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.
Just a final point, not a question; as I was sitting down with
adult educators in Rhode Island a few weeks ago, they pointed
out that one of the problems is literacy; that they have a
significant number of adults who walk in and they want jobs,
they want to work, but they have very poor literacy, and very
poor numeracy and, digital skills too.
And I will just, not a question, but I assume, and I know
you will follow up with the Department of Education to try to
collaborate, to see how we can integrate our literacy programs,
as well as our training programs. And I will then--I won't
follow up with additional question. I will just, thank you.
Thank you, ma'am.
Senator Murray. Thank you.
Senator Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Madam Chair.
BUDGET INCREASES
Mr. Secretary, welcome. I agree with you, by the way, for
what it is worth, about getting the money out on the streets,
literally. So I am looking at your budget here. Your current
budget is $12.5 billion. You are asking for $14.2 billion. Does
that sound about right?
Secretary Walsh. Yes.
Senator Kennedy. That is a 14 percent increase. You want an
extra $1.7 billion?
Secretary Walsh. Yes.
Senator Kennedy. Okay. Explain to me why the American
people would be better off giving you $1.7 billion, than taking
that $1.7 billion and spending it on infrastructure? I did a
little math and for $1.7 billion, we can resurface a four-lane
highway from Washington to Denver. So why are the American
people better off giving you more money than putting it on
infrastructure?
Secretary Walsh. Well, thank you very much, Senator. And
thank you for the question. It is a great question. And I think
the way I would think about it is the $1.7 billion increase to
my--to the budget, my budget is an investment in infrastructure
as well. It is an----
Senator Kennedy. It is what? I am sorry?
Secretary Walsh. Infrastructure investment as well. It is
an infrastructure investment in the American worker in this
country. It is an opportunity for us to look at, as I think
about the Department of Labor----
Senator Kennedy. Would you believe every--excuse me for
interrupting--I am sorry, Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Walsh. No problem.
Senator Kennedy. We don't have much time. Do you believe
that every expenditure by the Federal Government is an
investment?
Secretary Walsh. This----
Senator Kennedy. What is the difference between an
investment and an expenditure?
Secretary Walsh. An investment is an investment in the
future of workers, and expenditure is an expenditure in
building a bridge.
Senator Kennedy. Okay. Well, you have a union background,
which I respect and admire. If we took $1.7 billion that you
say you need, you need more to run your Department, and we
spent that on infrastructure. That is going to create a lot of
union jobs. Isn't it?
Secretary Walsh. It is going to create a lot of jobs, but
we are also not going to be able to educate the workforce that
needs those new jobs that are going to be created off of that
infrastructure investment of new bridges.
Senator Kennedy. But they are already educated. The people
building the roads are already educated. They are good at what
they do.
Secretary Walsh. Well, Senator Reed just mentioned of--an
issue around literacy in this country. So again, it is an
investment in helping people to be able to be retrained and
trained in the jobs of the future. I come out of construction.
I worked construction as well. The construction industry that I
worked on in the early-'90s and late-'90s is different than the
construction industry of today.
TAX INCREASES FOR INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
Senator Kennedy. Yes, sir. Let me stop you for a second. I
don't want to get too far afield here into a history of the
construction industry. I used to work construction too.
Let me be sure I understand what you are saying. When my
constituents call me and they say, look, you are being asked to
raise taxes to pay for infrastructure. Why, instead of putting
$1.7 billion in extra taxes on us, why did you give $1.7
billion to the Department of Labor? Why didn't you use that for
infrastructure? Am I just supposed to say, because the
Department of Labor says they are going to make an investment?
What metrics are you going to use this time next year to be
able to prove to this Congress that your investment paid off
better than $1.7 billion in infrastructure?
Secretary Walsh. Before I answer that, let me just quickly
go back to the tax question. I think the beauty for your
constituents is that the infrastructure bill that is being
negotiated right now does not raise taxes on the average
American who earns under $400,000. So the average American is
not paying for that.
Senator Kennedy. That is not true.
Secretary Walsh. Okay. Well, that is not why I am here
today.
Senator Kennedy. We just have to agree to disagree.
Secretary Walsh. It really----
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SURVEYS
Senator Kennedy. Let me move on, because I have got one
minute left, and I like to stay within my time. Does your
agency conduct surveys?
Secretary Walsh. As far as employee surveys?
Senator Kennedy. Any surveys.
Secretary Walsh. We do, yes.
Senator Kennedy. Okay. Do you pay people?
Secretary Walsh. Pay the people who do the surveys?
Senator Kennedy. No, to take the survey.
Secretary Walsh. I actually don't know the answer to that.
Senator Kennedy. Well, here is why I am asking. And I am
not trying to----
Secretary Walsh. I will get back. I don't know. I don't
know the answer to that.
Senator Kennedy. I need your help finding something. One of
my constituents got this in the mail. It is a letter--I know it
is not under your jurisdiction--from the Bureau--Census Bureau.
And they asked him to fill out a form on children's health, and
he opened it up, and look what fell out, a five-dollar bill.
And there is no reference in the letter to the $5 in cash he
got from the Federal Government. What is this all about?
Secretary Walsh. I have no idea. I will look into----
Senator Kennedy. Can you help me find out?
Secretary Walsh. I will help you find out.
Senator Kennedy. I took the----
Secretary Walsh. I didn't get one of those letters.
Senator Kennedy. Well, I filled out my census, my survey. I
want five bucks.
Secretary Walsh. I do, too.
Senator Kennedy. And I understand that under the Biden
administration is also sending people $40 gift cards.
Secretary Walsh. I doubt that is from the Biden
administration. But I will look into it.
Senator Kennedy. I looked it up, it is on the Internet. It
must be true.
Secretary Walsh. I will look into it with you, my friend.
Senator Kennedy. Would you?
Secretary Walsh. I promise.
Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Walsh. All right, sir.
Senator Murray. Senator Shaheen.
IMPORTANCE OF THE JOB CORPS PROGRAM
Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you, Madam Chair.
And congratulations, Mr. Secretary, we are delighted to
have you in your current role, and it is nice to have a New
Englander who I can understand.
You were talking earlier about the need to have more
nontraditional apprenticeships, and the potential for doing
that for organizations to make that possible. One of those
organizations in New Hampshire is the Job Corps where they have
a number of training programs that train people for healthcare
roles, for dental assistants, for some of the things that have
been nontraditional.
Can you speak to the importance of the Job Corps and why it
is a great opportunity for young people who may not have
another alternative?
Secretary Walsh. Absolutely, Senator. Thank you for that.
You know, prior to my being here, I did not have, per se, a Job
Corps Center in the City of Boston, but we had lots of
workforce development programs. My first Job Corps visit was in
Memphis, Tennessee, where I got a chance to tour the Job Corps
facility there. And I saw first-hand the unbelievable potential
of creating pathways for so many young people in America.
And then I started to look into it, and realize the amount
of young people that go through Job Corps. Job Corps, there is
no question in my mind, that everybody today who brought up the
question with me so far, Job Corps should be a main stay in
Opportunity For Economic Development and Job Growth.
I think that we need to continue--I am going to continue to
partner with Job Corps. I am going to do everything I can. I
have asked for a budget increase for Job Corps. I am also going
to do everything I can to make sure that Job Corps all across
this country is successful.
I know your Job Corps in New Hampshire. I know it is
successful, and we want to take those models and make it
successful. So I am spending, you know--again not to kind of
get off the beaten path here--but I know when I became
Secretary of Labor, you know, people talk about OSHA,
unemployment insurance, and all of the--kind of the bigger
ticket items, Job Corps is as important as any of these, if we
do it right and continue to create pathways.
Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. I worked for 20 years,
first as governor, to get that Job Corps, with a lot of other
people who supported it. So it is really nice to see it be
successful. And I appreciate the support from--your support for
Job Corps.
H-2B VISAS
Something that has not been so positive this year has been
the challenges with finding workers in New Hampshire, as
everyone has spoken to already. And one of those issues in New
Hampshire has been the access for H-2B visa workers. You and I
talked about this last spring. But we have a lot of seasonal
businesses that rely on H-2B visa workers to fill those
temporary jobs. When we don't have workers in New Hampshire who
are willing to take those jobs, and we have an unemployment
rate that is now back to under 3 percent.
Congress charged the Secretary of Homeland Security and
you, as Secretary of Labor, with the responsibility of
collaborating to determine the appropriate number of additional
H-2B visas to release for this fiscal year. I was disappointed
to see the administration's ultimate decision to release just
22,000 additional visas. And just 16,000 of those were set
aside for returning workers. They were fully applied for less
than 2 weeks after being made available.
So can you tell us how the administration determined that
22,000 number, and why only 16,000 of those should be available
for returning workers?
Secretary Walsh. Yes. I can. First and foremost, it was, as
somebody who was literally on the job about 3 weeks at that
particular moment, I sat with Secretary Mayorkas, and we were
looking at different numbers. He had a very high number--a much
higher number than that. And we were looking at the consistency
of what the past practice has been, and what the average number
of additional visas have been; 22,000--well, let me, 16,000 of
the traditional ones is about the average of the last 3 years,
not including last year, what the average was.
The 6,000 that were added was for the Northern Triangle of
Central America and Southern America. So we have made--my
office and Homeland Security's office is coming up with a
better formula for how we operate and move forward next year.
And I think that, certainly, your office, I spoke to you
directly, and Senator Hassan called me, and many Senators from
around the country called me as well, from all over the
country, really concerned about this.
We got the number out late. And so what we want to do now
is prepare for next year as we move forward so this same thing
doesn't happen. I know that in New Hampshire, Maine, and other
places, the tourism industry is in desperate need of these
workers, and other parts of the country, the fishing industry
is desperately in need of these workers.
And then we are also looking at the H-1B program as well
for the farmers. So I don't have a great answer for you, how we
came up with that number, other than we sat down and had a
compromise, a conversation. But I can tell you this: you have
my commitment that next year we will not be dealing with this
at the last minute. We will have this conversation beforehand,
and may be even an opportunity for me to visit with you and
talk to some of the workers that are in your State, to talk
about the importance of that program.
Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate
that.
ADDRESSING THE WORKFORCE SHORTAGE
And I know I am out of time, Madam Chair. But I would just
remind us all that we are dealing with an aging workforce in
this country. And if we expect to fill the jobs that we are
creating, we need to get more older workers into the workplace,
and we need to get more immigrants into the workplace. And I
understand that is a charged political issue, but it is one we
need to face if we are going to address our workforce shortage.
Thank you.
Senator Murray. Thank you.
Senator Baldwin.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Chair Murray.
PARTNERS ACT APPRENTICESHIP LEGISLATION
Secretary Walsh, I am going to join the chorus here as a
big supporter of apprenticeship programs. And I plan to shortly
re-introduce my apprenticeships legislation, known as the
PARTNERS Act, in the near future. That is focused particularly
on collaboration between smaller work places, and technical
colleges, and workforce Boards to sometimes create novel
apprenticeships, but to assist, especially, smaller businesses,
in standing up apprenticeship programs.
DIVERSITY IN APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
Anyways, I was pleased to see that your budget requested a
$100 million increase for apprenticeship programs, along with a
commitment to increase access to apprenticeships for,
historically underrepresented groups. I wanted to call your
attention to my home State of Wisconsin, where in Milwaukee we
learned that the number of Black apprentices decreased by
nearly 22 percent over the last year. That is a deeply
disturbing statistic.
And so I am interested in learning how the Department will
use the appropriated funds to attract more racially-diverse
apprentices. And what strategies you have to prevent the sort
of numbers that we have seen in Wisconsin, and Milwaukee in
particular?
Secretary Walsh. No. Thank you. I was in Milwaukee about 3
weeks ago, or with the Mayor, and we were on a job site,
replacing lead pipes, they were replacing lead pipes in one of
the neighborhoods in Milwaukee. And prior to that I was at a
roundtable with the Building Trades, I think that there are two
things we have to do.
Number one is, I think the people that we have to--that
want to get access to these apprenticeship programs, that there
are people of color, African-American, Latino. People want to
get in. It is about, you have to be real intentional about
reaching out to the community and creating open-door
opportunities for these programs. I have done it in the city as
a head of the Building Trades. I have done it as the Mayor of
the City of Boston.
And I think that we have a unique opportunity right now in
the--you know, at the Department of Labor equity is kind of at
the core of everything that we are doing, and we need to make
sure, if we want to really come back and build back better, it
has to be built back better for all people, it cannot just be
build back better for some communities.
And so I think we--number one, to answer your question, at
the Department of Labor, when we start to think about putting
RFPs (Request for Proposals) out, we start to expand these
apprentice programs, we also have to put in some
recommendations on how, and explain to people, how do you get
people that don't have access to these programs, access.
So you just got to be intentional about it, bottom line. I
mean, in Boston, it has worked. I mean, are the numbers great?
No. Are the numbers better? Yes. So we have to be better than
we were.
IT SOLUTIONS FOR AGING UI SYSTEMS
Senator Baldwin. During the pandemic Wisconsin's Department
of Workforce Development really struggled to make timely
unemployment insurance payments because of outdated computer
systems.
Secretary Walsh. Yes.
Senator Baldwin. And they were a product of years of
neglect, and frankly, partisan attacks on the unemployment
insurance program to begin with. I am encouraged to see that
your budget will provide, again, $100 million specifically for
IT solutions that can be deployed in the State. And this money,
I think will be well spent in Wisconsin. But I was also
interested in learning more about the first comprehensive
update in decades to the formula that determines the funding
States received to administer unemployment.
Can you provide more information on the proposed changes to
the formula? And is this something that the Department expects
to undertake administratively? Or do you think you are going to
need changes to authorizing language?
Secretary Walsh. Well, first of all, thank you for bringing
this up. Because as I was prepping for this hearing, most of my
prep was about--around unemployment insurance, so I thank you
for bringing it up. I think that a lot of what we can do,
Department of Labor, is working, going to be working with
States and territories to be able to look at what investments
are needed in those different areas.
We are using the funds that--through the American Rescue
Plan to tackle the most acute problems that the systems have
been facing for a long time. There are kind of four key
priorities, which I will touch upon: one is sending teams to
States to provide intensive technical assistance that is first
and foremost, really finding out, because every State system is
a little different on how they operate, and their computer
systems are completely different. We are going to provide
States with direct assistance and experts, to learn about the
challenges, and to begin to help immediately on what we need to
do. So that is one space.
Second is a focus on ID verification, and looking in that
area. A third is modernizing technology, probably one of the
biggest things that we have an issue with is technology, and
States are running on incredibly antiquated systems that they
have had for 30, 40, 50 years; and then a direct grant to
States to help them solve the challenges that they have in the
system.
I mean, reforming the united system will do a lot. Number
one, as you mentioned at the very beginning, at the beginning
of the pandemic people had problems accessing the benefit. They
couldn't get in. They were waiting, and they were waiting on
Zoom, they were waiting in the line, they were waiting and they
couldn't get through.
So creating a platform, a system, when somebody needs
unemployment, they can either sign up online, or get a phone
call. They can get in; number one.
Number two; it is also the fraud piece of it. Lots of--
there was lots of organized crime and fraud with the UI system
where millions and billions of dollars were taken that should
have gone to people. Again, that will address the fraud.
So we are going to have a comprehensive approach moving
forward. We are being very, very, focused on how we administer
this program, and how we move forward.
Senator Baldwin. Okay. And if you can follow up with some
more information about the formula changes that are being
undertaken, that would be great.
Secretary Walsh. Yes. I will get back to you. Thank you.
Senator Murray. Thank you very much.
BUDGET INCREASES FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Mr. Secretary, the budget request includes significant
increases in funding across the workforce development program,
and like COVID itself, the economic impacts of the pandemic
issue now have fallen disproportionally on the most vulnerable,
including women, workers with low incomes, workers of color; so
the investments in this budget would help our economic
recovery, but also address changing workforce needs that were
apparent actually long before COVID; such as the transition to
clean energy, and the development of other in-demand industries
and sectors.
Can you talk to us about why the increases in workforce
development programs are so important right now, and
specifically what this budget does to address inequities in our
workforce programs?
Secretary Walsh. Yes. Let me try and do a better job than
the first time I was asked the question. Most people here today
that have asked me a question have discussed either, the
underemployment of people, or the lack of ability to get into a
better paying job. What the pandemic--we have known this before
the pandemic--but what the pandemic has really shown is that we
are in a crossroad in our country, and we have an opportunity
to create a platform for people to get into the middle-class.
President Biden's ``Build Back Better'' plan, not the plan,
but build back better, the words ``build back better'' when he
talked about in the very beginning before there were any plans
associated with that, was about creating opportunities and
pathways into the middle-class, that people wouldn't have to
live in poverty, people wouldn't have to worry about
unemployment, people wouldn't have to worry about not having
healthcare, and child's care, daycare, education, all of that.
And what our workforce investments are--what we are asking
for in this budget, and what we want to do with our workforce
investments in the Department of Labor, in this budget, is to
continue to advance what the President's agenda is, what we all
want to do moving forward. And so for every dollar that we
spend, with all due respect to one of the Senators today, for
every dollar that we spent in workforce development, it is an
investment in the future of America's workforce. And it is an
opportunity.
Ranking Member Blunt mentioned new emerging tech--new
emerging industries, those industries right now, a lot of them,
are just for college graduates. They are going into cities like
Boston, and they are grabbing up college graduates, but they
have more opportunities than they have people to work in those
jobs. And when I--when you talk to those CEOs, and the people
that create those companies, what they say is that we can train
the workforces to work in those industries. We don't need to
have a college degree, or a Ph.D, or a law degree.
So we have a unique opportunity right now. So the
investments that I am asking this committee to support, and I
am going to be asking the Full Senate and Congress to support,
are investments we are making in the future of American
workers.
We don't want the same-old, same-old Department of Labor,
where we are going to be giving grants to States and States
will be taking the money and maybe doing something with it.
What we want to do is make sure that these investments are
going in the right places so we can continue the opportunity to
get our--your constituencies, my constituents into good-paying
jobs.
That is the opportunity in front of us at this particular
moment in time. And I think that nobody wants to go back to the
old way. I think it is important for us, we continue to make
investments in American people for those jobs.
COMBATING WAGE THEFT
Senator Murray. Okay. There are workers around the country
right now, as you well know, trying to support their families,
make ends meet, but they are being denied the unacceptable--or
the unacceptably low Federal minimum wage, overtime pay, or
both. And it is clear more needs to be done to ensure workers
received the wages that they actually earn. And it is the Wage
and Hour Division's job, as you know, to investigate these
cases and recover back wages and damages on their behalf. Can
you talk to us about how your Department would use the $30
million increase that you have requested for Wage and Hour, to
address wage theft or increased back pay recovery, particularly
for our vulnerable workers?
Secretary Walsh. Yes. First and foremost I want to--again,
I wanted to just thank you for the American Rescue Plan because
we have made some investments there as well in Wage and Hour,
and we are building back up where we were a previous--to
previous levels. The investments that we want to invest there,
again it goes back to thinking about the Department of Labor in
a different way, as far as, the way I view the Department of
Labor is we represent workers in the morning, in the afternoon,
and at night.
And we represent workers in all different levels, whether
it is security on the job site, safe retirement, and safe
working conditions. So what we want to do in Wage and Hour is
make sure that we truly make an opportunity for people that are
being shortchanged or not getting their wages that they earn
and deserve, that we have the proper opportunity for
investigation to go in and investigate any cases out there, so
we are able to follow up, and get people's back wages.
If you look at the Department of Labor's website, every day
we have another case where we are able to recoup benefits of
people that lost their money.
Senator Murray. Thank you.
Senator Blunt.
Senator Blunt. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
ALLEVIATING LICENSING RESTRICTIONS FOR MILITARY WORKERS AND THEIR
SPOUSES
The President on Friday released an executive order that
encourages the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to ban
unnecessary occupational licensing restrictions. I have been
particularly involved in that as it related to returning
veterans who bring skills back with them, or veteran spouses or
military spouses who are going from one State to the next. What
are you doing? And what do you think we can do to encourage
more cross-State collaboration in licensing, and to eliminate
needless barriers for licensing, particularly for those people
who in some way have either been in the military, or have
spouses in the military?
Secretary Walsh. Yes. I don't have a direct answer for you
to that question, but my past understanding of being in the
legislature, or in the City of Boston as the mayor, it is a
concern because people would come to our city and they would
want to work in a certain industry, and the license was not
recognized in the City of Boston.
And there was an ability at the State level to get a
waiver, but it is something that I don't have enough
information on, and I will look into it. But I definitely think
that, particularly military families, as military families they
are not in--I have a cousin that is in the Coast Guard. In the
last 10 years he has spent time in San Diego, up in Portland,
Maine, he has been all over the country because he gets shifted
from base to base every 3 years.
Senator Blunt. Right.
Secretary Walsh. So again, you know, if he had a career
that, a side career that had a license, he needed to get that.
So let me--I will work on that with you. I don't have the
direct answer for you on that.
Senator Blunt. Let us work on that. I think the executive
order clearly heads in the right direction, but let us work on
what we can do now. That is largely a State and a local
determination. Up until this point many of the States,
including Missouri, are moving in the direction of making it
much easier. We just, I think our first military spouse that
got an immediate license when she came to this State, was a
lawyer, who, within a few days of moving to Missouri with her
husband who was at Fort Leonard Wood was practicing law. And
the more of that sort of thing, whether it is a lawyer, or a
beautician, or an electrician, or----
Secretary Walsh. A teacher.
INCREASE IN H-2B VISAS
Senator Blunt [continuing]. A commercial truck driver,
whatever those licenses are, I want to work with you on that.
In another area, I was pleased to see the Department, in
conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, announce
the availability of an additional 22,000 H-2B visas, provided
for in the 2021 Omnibus Bill. You know, these H-2B visas are, a
lot of them in hospitality, and landscaping, in timber.
In our State, I see those generally as jobs that actually
protect the other jobs that are there, coming in, filling a
part-time gap that allows the full-time Missouri resident
employees to have a job that they wouldn't have, if the hotel
couldn't be open, or that they wouldn't have if all of the
landscaping work that needs to be done at a given time,
couldn't be done.
I don't want a detailed answer from you here today, but I
would like you to commit to working with this subcommittee to
guarantee that the program has sufficient returning workers to
meet the seasonal needs of our small businesses, and our local
industries. And fishing would be one of those industries in
coastal areas. Senator Mikulski and I used to work closely on
this particular issue.
Would you be willing to continue to work with us on this,
Secretary?
Secretary Walsh. Yes. There is no question about that. And
not only that, I think that this program also benefits the
people that are coming here, working and taking back home, the
revenue back home to their families. And I think that that also
is a kind of a win-win for all sides. So I certainly will
continue to work with you on that.
FUNDING FOR THE APPALACHIAN AND DELTA COMMISSIONS
Senator Blunt. Another area I mentioned in my opening
comments was that your budget request included a $35 million
set aside to serve workers in the Appalachian and Lower
Mississippi Delta regions, that we began funding in 2018. I was
the Chairman of the committee at the time, and Senator Murray
was the ranking member, and that funding has created, and will
create employment opportunities by providing reemployment and
training assistance in areas where they are needed.
Can you speak to the success of the grants in this area,
these regional commissions, like the Appalachian Regional
Commission, and the Delta Regional Commission?
Secretary Walsh. Certainly. I mean, there is no question
that these grants are beneficial to those areas of the country
and, you know, I hear, the feedback I get from the Department
of Labor, from the workforce development side of it, is that a
lot of these different areas want increased grants, and
opportunity to access to grants. So it is beneficial. And that
is why the additional revenue that I am looking for in some of
this workforce development and grant money will allow us the
opportunity to make more investments in those areas.
Senator Blunt. Thank you, Secretary.
Chair, I think that I will have some more questions for the
record. But I believe those are, at this point, at least all
the questions I have for the hearing today.
Senator Murray. Very good.
Senator Braun.
OSHA ENFORCEMENT BUDGET INCREASE
Senator Braun. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And good to see you, Mr. Secretary, enjoyed our
conversations in the past. And, you know, I come from the
business world, and especially small business, and I have been
able to see our business grow over the years, and interface
with all the things you have to do with government. And I have
always felt an inherent responsibility to do things right, keep
your employees safe, that that is part and parcel of growing an
enterprise.
I noticed where there is a request for $350 million
increase in enforcement funding, and would be curious, I tried
to get the information what that is on top of already, and is
it related to. I know maybe during the Trump administration,
which I welcomed, a lot of easing up on certain stuff that
maybe was in overdrive, still acknowledging that many things
need to be in place to keep a safe environment, to keep a safe
workplace.
Has there been an uptick in OSHA-related cases that would
warrant that kind of increase that would be targeted towards
enforcement?
Secretary Walsh. That is a great question. The problem we
have with OSHA is that we have seen an increase in cases, and
we have also seen a decrease in OSHA inspectors. So I guess the
answer is: that we are seeing increased potential problems, and
we have fewer people to go out and investigate those problems.
So we have a lot of our cases that are going kind of, I guess,
unchecked, if you will.
Again, as I said earlier, before you came in Senator, this,
I would like to get OSHA to a point where it is not just going
out and seen as a ``gotcha'' organization. I mentioned, when I
was a younger person, I worked on construction, and OSHA would
come out to the job site, and not because they are out there
because of an accident, they are out there to make sure that
there was proper safety procedures in place in construction,
which is dangerous, as you know.
I would like to get OSHA back where we are doing a lot more
collaboration of working with businesses to make sure we create
work--safe work sites across America, rather than having to
respond to a tragedy. And we are not there yet. So the increase
that we are looking for is to build back the OSHA Department,
and build back the Department of Labor to pre--you know, the
last 5 years we are down, the lowest amount of inspectors, I
believe, in the history since the beginning of the Department
of Labor, we are at the lowest number right now.
Senator Braun. So what I would like, and you can get that
to our office, would be: what the number of enforcement issues
have been from 5 years ago to the present, what the funding
levels were each year, to make sure it might get related to
that in some fashion.
OSHA ENFORCEMENT IN LARGE BUSINESS VS. SMALL BUSINESS
And then also I would want to bring up the distinction
between large business and small business. And NFIB (National
Federation of Independent Business Inc.) has been out there
with so many stats that have shown that small businesses have
been decimated, challenged with COVID, some of the things they
had to do there that was on top of what they have to normally
do to move forward and prosper. And I have also been an
observer there. The smaller your business is, normally, the
more intimate that relationship is with your employees.
So again, I would like to know whether the Department
currently differentiates between how it looks at enforcement
among big businesses versus small businesses. And to see if
there is a distinction in how you carry out those functions.
Secretary Walsh. Yes. Let me get back to you on that one. I
don't have the answer for you.
Senator Braun. Yes.
Secretary Walsh. But I understand here what you are saying.
And when you talk about small businesses, you are not
necessarily talking about the three-person mom-and-pop store,
you are talking about the 200-person store and----
Senator Braun. I would give it 500 and fewer.
Secretary Walsh. Yes.
Senator Braun. And it is that----
Secretary Walsh. So let me get back to you on that.
Senator Braun. Yes.
Secretary Walsh. Because I understand, I recognize the fact
that there is a big difference between a small business and a
corporation.
Senator Braun. Especially 50 and under.
Secretary Walsh. Yes.
Senator Braun. But let us take the common definition, and
whatever is being done in the future, I would want to make sure
it is based upon the need to do it, number one, especially in
the context of scarce resources. So much of what we are doing
today and not just after the Biden administration took over,
because we do it on borrowed money on anything that we do
enhance in a budget. And I think that will come into question
in the long run as well.
So if you could get back to my office on those two
particular pieces of information, I would appreciate it.
Secretary Walsh. I definitely will.
And I was at the Indy 500 the other day, I went around the
track, it was pretty amazing.
Senator Braun. Yes. And that is a kind of, I guess, a big
version of a small business.
Secretary Walsh. Yes. It certainly is.
Senator Braun. Right in my home State.
Secretary Walsh. It certainly is. It was interesting. It
was fun.
Senator Braun. Yes. Okay. Thank you.
Secretary Walsh. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Murray. Thank you very much.
That will end our hearing today, Mr. Secretary; and our
hearings on President Biden's Budget Proposal for fiscal year
2022.
I want to thank all of our fellow committee members for
their participation.
Secretary Walsh, thank you for your very thoughtful
answers. I look forward to continuing to work together with you
to fight for workers, and build a stronger, fair economy for
everyone.
ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS
For any Senators who wish to ask additional questions,
questions for the record will be due Friday, July 23 at 5 p.m.
The hearing record will also remain open until then for members
who wish to submit additional materials for the record.
[The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but
were submitted to the Department for response subsequent to the
hearing:]
Questions Submitted to Hon. Martin J. Walsh
Questions Submitted by Senator Patty Murray
whistleblower complaints and staffing
Question. I'd like to follow-up on my question about OSHA's
whistleblower program. Last year's Inspector General report described
the significant increase in complaints and insufficient staff to
investigate those complaints during the pandemic.
Please describe the impact of complaints not being timely and
effectively investigated and the steps planned and being taken to
address this issue.
Answer. Over the past several years, OSHA has experienced a
significant increase in new whistleblower complaints being filed, while
the level of staffing has remained steady. This, coupled with new
whistleblower statutes added to the agency's growing portfolio,
including statutes unrelated to worker safety and health, has resulted
in a significant increase in the inventory of outstanding
investigations, with many going on for extended periods of time
(overage/backlog cases). These factors have created a lag time in
completing investigations and making agency determinations based on the
merits of the complainants' allegations. With the onset of the
coronavirus pandemic (with more than 5,500 COVID-19-related
whistleblower complaints filed so far), the additional increase in new
filings and subsequent backlog inventory have limited the agency's
ability to complete investigations in a timely manner. If OSHA does not
have sufficient resources to meet quality and efficiency standards for
its whistleblower investigations, and is unable to review all
complaints alleging workplace retaliation, the agency cannot properly
protect employees' rights to engage in protected activity and prevent
retaliation.
OSHA has taken many steps to address the challenge of achieving a
reasonable balance between an investigation's timeliness and quality in
order to handle its whistleblower inventory more efficiently and
effectively. First, the agency instituted a pilot program whereby the
agency conducted two rounds of assignments of complaints across
regional boundaries, allowing for regions with a lesser workload to
assist regions with a higher workload, focusing on establishing a more
reasonable workload balance nationwide. OSHA is actively exploring
other avenues to address backlogged inventory, both nationally and
regionally. Second, the agency is overhauling the Whistleblower
Investigations Manual (WIM) to streamline procedures without
compromising case quality. OSHA instituted a new Pilots Directive that
allows for innovative ideas and suggestions to be `tested' to see if
added efficiency is gained and successful pilots are incorporated into
the WIM and made national policy. Third, OSHA developed an
investigative checklist to ensure that key investigative steps are
followed, establishing clear and effective case monitoring during the
final stages of an investigation, and thus ensuring that the quality of
the investigation is maintained. Finally, OSHA is actively hiring
additional whistleblower staff to assist not only in addressing the
inventory of backlogged cases but also the total inventory of cases, by
promptly processing and investigating new complaints so they don't
become overaged. The agency's fiscal year 2022 budget request also
includes a requested increase 63 FTE and $5.3 million to provide
additional whistleblower staff to meet the workload demands.
OSHA will also continue to engage its stakeholders with meetings
throughout the year. These meetings provide a forum for the public to
offer suggestions and comments on ways the agency can improve the
whistleblower program. This will allow OSHA an opportunity to go beyond
the protection of individual whistleblowers by increasing outreach
efforts through the Whistleblower Outreach Plan in an effort to educate
employers about their responsibilities and employees on their rights
afforded under the statutes OSHA enforces. The agency will focus its
outreach efforts on industries with the highest, as well as the fewest
number of complaints filed, whistleblower protection provisions of the
newest statutes enacted, and vulnerable populations least aware of
worker protections while also continuing to promote the ``Recommended
Practices for Anti-Retaliation Programs'' guidance for employers. This
document outlines the steps recommended for employers to establish a
workplace where employees feel comfortable raising concerns, without
fear of retaliation. In turn, the employer benefits from improved
employee morale and productivity, as well as the likelihood of fewer
whistleblower complaints being filed by its workers.
Question. How would the American Rescue Plan Act funds, additional
funds requested in the fiscal year 2022 budget and policy changes
address a recommendations made by the Office of Inspector General to
more equitably distribute whistleblower complaints amongst
investigators, and provide consistent enforcement of whistleblower
rights among the regions.
Answer. OSHA will use the funding received under the American
Rescue Plan Act to address COVID-19 related whistleblower complaints.
OSHA published the COVID-19 National Emphasis Program, which
prioritizes investigating employers that retaliate against workers for
complaints about unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or for exercising
other rights protected by Federal law. OSHA plans to spend $13,079,000
to support 32 FTE in the Whistleblower budget activity, including 25
investigators over the course of the three-year supplemental. Funding
would also support seven national and regional whistleblower staff to
address evolving policy issues, and provide required high level review
of the growing number COVID-19 retaliation claims received by the
agency, with more than 5,500 COVID-19-related whistleblower complaints
filed so far.
In fiscal year 2022, OSHA is requesting $24,999,000 and 185 FTE,
which includes a program increase $4,100,000 and 50 FTE for
whistleblower investigators to effectively enforce 25 whistleblower
statutes, including the recently added Criminal Antitrust Anti-
Retaliation Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act. In addition to
investigators, OSHA is requesting a program increase of $1,243,000 and
13 FTE to support the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program,
policy development and review, and appropriate management support for
the Whistleblower Protection Program (WPP). As part of the effort to
build a stronger whistleblower program and have the necessary level of
resources to support the significant number of whistleblower statutes
the agency has been mandated to enforce, OSHA will make sure that every
worker, especially those in vulnerable and underserved communities,
knows about their rights and what to do if they believe their safety
and health is not being protected. The agency is committed to ensuring
that every worker is protected and feels empowered to raise concerns
when they feel their workplaces are unsafe.
The additional investigators requested in fiscal year 2022 will be
distributed throughout the agency's regional offices with a focus on
preventing an increase in the backlog of complaint investigations while
also reducing the overall inventory of pending investigations. The
requested resources will help OSHA keep up with the high demand, and
ensure that workers' concerns are properly and thoroughly processed and
responded to as expeditiously as possible.
OSHA has taken many steps to address this challenge of achieving a
reasonable balance between an investigation's timeliness and quality in
order to handle its whistleblower inventory more efficiently and
effectively. First, the agency instituted a pilot program whereby the
agency conducted two rounds of assignments of complaints across
regional boundaries, allowing for regions with a lesser workload to
assist regions with a higher workload, again, focusing on establishing
a more reasonable workload balance nationwide. OSHA is actively
exploring other avenues to address backlogged inventory, both
nationally and individually by Region. Second, the agency is
overhauling the Whistleblower Investigations Manual (WIM) to streamline
procedures without compromising case quality. OSHA has instituted a new
Pilots Directive that allows for innovative ideas and suggestions to be
`tested' to see if added efficiency is gained--those successful pilots
are incorporated into the WIM and made national policy. Third, OSHA
developed an investigative checklist to ensure that key investigative
steps are followed, establishing clear and effective case monitoring
during the final stages of an investigation, and thus ensuring that the
quality of the investigation is maintained. Lastly, the agency is
actively hiring additional staff to assist not only in addressing the
inventory of backlogged cases but also the total inventory of cases, by
promptly processing and investigating new complaints so they don't
become overaged.
In addition, with new fully trained staff in place, along with new
staff requested in the fiscal year 2022 Budget Request, OSHA will
continue to streamline its processes by developing alternative
procedures through piloted programs and strategies that are evaluated,
found to be effective, and implemented nationwide. Specific focus will
continue to be placed on backlog reduction strategies to reduce the
inventory of overaged cases. Additionally, OSHA will continue its
efforts to expand the use of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Program, which has proven to be an effective strategy to efficiently
process complaints/cases in a timely manner and with positive results.
With the delegation of two additional whistleblower laws in fiscal year
2021, the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and the Criminal Antitrust
Anti-Retaliation Act (CAARA), OSHA plans to conduct training on the
investigative processes concerning these new laws for its staff in
fiscal year 2022, as done with the Taxpayer First Act (TFA) in fiscal
year 2020. OSHA also plans to develop an Intranet-based Whistleblower
Investigator (WBI) Resource Page for whistleblower personnel that will
include technical assistance and answer a myriad of questions presented
by the field, including those related to COVID-19, which is constantly
evolving. This will be accessible to all Regions, ensuring nationwide
consistency. All of the initiatives will be developed and implemented
to assist the agency in addressing the recommendations made by the
Office of the Inspector General.
davis bacon enforcement
Question. Mr. Secretary, construction workers across this nation
rely on the Department's Wage and Hour Division to enforce their right
to prevailing wages on federally assisted construction projects. As a
former construction worker, you know as well as anyone that
construction is hard, dangerous work. These protections ensure the
Federal Government is creating good jobs with fair pay and bringing
countless economic benefits to local communities. The workers and
communities who build our bridges, highways, and other critical
infrastructure deserve the protections and the benefits prevailing wage
provides.
Mr. Secretary--how would your Department use the funds requested
for the Wage and Hour Division to better enforce the Davis-Bacon Act,
particularly with respect to working with other Federal agencies to
ensure compliance?
Answer. The Davis Bacon Act protects construction workers' rights
to receive the local prevailing wage and leverages the purchasing power
of the Federal Government to support local contractors, local workers,
and local economies. The Department is currently engaged in a
comprehensive review of its Davis Bacon program including outreach,
education, compliance assistance in partnerships with contracting
agencies and enforcement. Additional enforcement resources will allow
the Wage and Hour Division to put more investigators into the field and
onto construction sites to make sure workers are getting the wages they
have earned on Davis Bacon projects.
ilab monitoring and enforcement
Question. Mr. Secretary, my home state of Washington is one of the
most trade dependent economies in the United States. That's one of the
reasons I support trade deals with strong labor and environmental
protections. So, I was pleased to see the budget proposes $124 million,
an increase of more than $27 million, for the International Labor
Affairs Bureau. This includes significant new investments for ILAB to
expand trade-related monitoring and enforcement of labor provisions in
our trade programs and new resources to investigate the use of forced
and child labor in global supply chains.
I know you have dedicated resources for work on our trade agreement
with Mexico and Canada. However, with 150 international trading
partners under existing free trade agreements or trade preferences,
your budget request won't stretch far enough to conduct monitoring and
enforcement with all of our trading partners.
How will you prioritize countries for monitoring and enforcement
activities?
Answer. DOL is committed to monitoring and enforcing the labor
provisions in all of our trade agreements and preference programs. Over
the last year, in addition to creating a new division dedicated to
enforcing the labor provisions of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade
Agreement, our Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA) within the
Bureau of International Labor Affairs has increased the staffing level
and resources devoted to enforcing labor provisions in the other trade
agreements and trade programs as well. This has enabled us to intensify
our engagement with countries with the greatest need. For example, so
far in 2021, the Department has dramatically increased its work
allocated to our trade agreement with Central America (CAFTA-DR),
enabling us to integrate labor enforcement into the important work
being led by the White House on Central America. Likewise, with the
preference programs, we are continuing to monitor all countries
benefiting from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) through the GSP triennial
assessment and the annual AGOA review. Based on these processes, our
team prioritizes and engages with key countries in an ongoing manner.
Both the GSP and AGOA processes consider information from a broad array
of sources, including U.S. government reporting, international and
national labor rights organizations, and public comment mechanisms
included in the preference programs. Our team shares the results of its
fact-finding, along with recommendations for priority countries, with
the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC). Subsequent discussions with
interagency partners further shape OTLA's identification of priority
countries and inform ongoing strategies for engagement to promote
progress towards meeting the worker rights eligibility criteria.
Question. And, how will you partner with the State Department and
Office of the Trade Representative to ensure the most robust
enforcement possible of labor provisions in our trade programs?
Answer. DOL works closely with the Department of State and the
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in our goal for strong
enforcement of labor provisions in our trade agreements and trade
preference programs. DOL engages with key countries through bilateral
work and is in constant communication with our interagency partners,
trade partner country stakeholders, and the International Labor
Organization to maximize our effectiveness in labor enforcement. In
addition, DOL works with State and USTR in a variety of formal
mechanisms, such as the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), labor and
trade-related working groups such as the CAFTA-DR working groups, and
Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFAs). For example, DOL's
Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA) collaborates with USTR's labor
office to develop and deliver talking points on labor priorities in
connection with TIFAs between the U.S. and parties to the TIFA. OTLA
also convenes regular calls with USTR and State to discuss and share
updates on priority labor issues, and ensures USTR and State's
participation on relevant labor-related country briefings.
child labor
Question. According to the latest report on child labor produced by
the International Labour Organization and UNICEF, the number of
children in child labor around the world dropped from 246 million in
2000 to 152 million in 2016. Unfortunately, this 16-year downward trend
has been reversed over the past 4 years, increasing to 160 million
children worldwide in 2020 with nearly half of these children engaged
in hazardous work.
Please describe how funds currently available to the International
Labor Affairs Bureau will be used to contribute to a reversal of this
increase in child labor.
Answer. Reversing the upward trend in child labor, as reported in
the latest ILO and UNICEF global estimates, will require a multi-
faceted approach. A range of factors have contributed to the
significant increase in child labor noted in some parts of the world,
particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. ILAB is increasing its focus on a
number of key areas where there is a great need and where we can have a
significant impact. This includes increased focus on global supply
chains; promoting greater access to social protection, training, and
education opportunities for vulnerable children and families;
confronting gender and racial inequity; and strengthening worker voice
and workers' rights.
ILAB's Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking is
currently overseeing 46 projects with activities in over 40 countries.
These projects are addressing root causes of child labor and forced
labor through research, awareness raising, education, improved
livelihoods, strengthening labor laws and enforcement, and by
increasing the capacity of governments and other stakeholders to scale
up and sustain effective practices for preventing and reducing these
abusive labor practices. ILAB has also worked with these existing
grantees to address urgent needs resulting from the global pandemic.
ILAB has allocated project resources to increase vulnerable groups'
access to information about the virus, address food insecurity, support
remote education and training, and provide masks and hygiene resources
to reduce exposure of vulnerable children and workers. ILAB is also
deeply engaged in addressing child labor and forced labor in Sub-
Saharan Africa, with over $40 million in active programming in the
region, including more than $18 million in new programming awarded in
2020 addressing child labor in key supply chains such as cobalt, cocoa,
and mica. These projects include a focus on issues of gender equity and
the need for enhanced monitoring and remediation. With fiscal year 2021
funds, ILAB is also currently in the process of funding new projects
that will address some of the key gaps identified in the ILO-UNICEF
report. For example:
--In Malaysia, ILAB is funding a $5 million project to combat forced
labor and child labor by increasing advocacy by workers and
civil society in the production of palm oil and garments,
worker voice in the implementation of a social compliance
systems, and workers access to remedies in these sectors.
--In El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, a $7 million ILAB-funded
project will build civil society and workers organization
capacity to address child and forced labor and other
unacceptable conditions of work, promote greater gender and
racial equity, and address the needs of some of the most
vulnerable populations in these countries, including persons of
African descent and indigenous communities.
Moreover, as part of our efforts to achieve a larger and more
sustainable reduction in child labor and forced labor, ILAB will
actively engage with governments, the private sector, worker
organizations, civil society actors, other donor governments, and
international organizations to promote the replication of effective
practices. ILAB will call on governments to mainstream child and forced
labor elimination strategies into broader social initiatives as a way
to take to scale strategies that can help to reduce the vulnerability
of children, families, and workers to abusive labor practices. ILAB
will also continue to use its flagship reports on child labor and
forced labor to urge governments to take specific action to reduce
these abusive labor practices.
Question. How would resources requested in the fiscal year 2022
budget build on and learn from prior investments?
Answer. From more than 25 years of experience funding international
child labor projects and contributing to significant strides in the
fight against child labor, we have learned that our most successful and
impactful initiatives are those that adopt a holistic approach, based
on a broader rights-based ecosystem that places workers and vulnerable
communities at the center. We have also learned that it is critical to
create the right incentives for governments and businesses to take
actions to address child labor and forced labor, particularly in global
supply chains.
In fiscal year 2022, ILAB will focus its programming on addressing
the persistence of abusive labor practices in supply chains, including
through the funding of research to trace goods through supply chains
and targeted action to increase workers' voice in the monitoring of
labor rights abuses. Rigorous research and reporting can help us hold
both governments and corporations accountable for goods produced by
forced labor and child labor throughout the supply chain. We will also
support projects that help address decent work gaps, as child labor
tends to persist where adult workers cannot exercise their rights at
the workplace, especially the rights of freedom of association and
collective bargaining. Another critical element of ILAB's approach will
be to promote good practices and the expansion of social protection
schemes that build social safety nets for vulnerable communities where
labor abuses are most prevalent (e.g., in rural areas, in agricultural
sectors). ILAB will also increase support for workers in informal
sectors, where vulnerability to labor exploitation is more pronounced,
as noted in the new ILO-UNICEF global child labor estimates, including
through support for informal worker organizations. ILAB's increased
focus in these areas will be particularly important in addressing the
significant increase in child labor in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as
the persistence of child labor in other parts of the world. Finally,
ILAB will partner with other donors and organizations to leverage our
resources and experience and support our goal for the replication and
scaling up of good practices to achieve the broader impact needed.
ILAB will continue to use evidence to inform action, drawing upon
our own research and reporting on forced and child labor as well as
lessons learned from past and current projects. ILAB's research serves
as an essential knowledge base for ILAB's technical cooperation
projects, helping ILAB focus its technical assistance in areas where it
is most needed and where it can have the greatest impact. ILAB also
relies on external evaluations of our projects, which systematically
assess the relative effectiveness of different approaches or
combination of approaches. ILAB uses good practices, identified through
project experience and project evaluations, as a way to leverage
learning to promote greater impact in the countries where we work. The
following are just a few examples of the impact of ILAB's strategic
approach:
--In Uzbekistan, our strategy of consistent, multi-year diplomatic
engagement coupled with programming on a broad labor rights/
decent work agenda helped achieve a radical reduction in the
country's use of forced labor in the cotton sector;
--In Honduras, we have used a multidisciplinary approach--research on
labor issues, monitoring, and technical assistance and
cooperation--to holistically and sustainably advance labor
rights, including child labor, freedom of association,
collective bargaining, minimum wages, hours of work, and
occupational safety and health (OSH). With support from an
ILAB's project, three Honduran cooperatives that export coffee
to the United States implemented a sustainable social
compliance system to reduce the prevalence of child labor in
their supply chain.
--In Mexico, we have focused research and technical assistance
efforts in the agriculture sector and on goods where there is
high risk of child labor, forced labor, and other labor
violations. ILAB has used strategic engagement to empower
workers and civil society organizations to advocate for
increased access to education and social protection services
for children at risk of child labor, their families, and
migrant workers.
Question. What are the specific plans to address the worst forms of
child labor in the cocoa supply chain in West Africa and build on prior
investments made toward this objective?
Answer. The recent release of the ILAB-funded, NORC (formerly the
National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago) report
on child labor in cocoa-growing areas of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana
underscores the significant challenges remaining in the sector. ILAB
recognizes that moving toward large-scale reduction of child labor in
the cocoa supply chain will require securing a commitment to broader
action by the two West African governments and the International
Chocolate and Cocoa Industry, including to improve labor monitoring,
better regulate the sector, and expand remediation efforts. Current
ILAB programming is supporting efforts to build the capacity of cocoa
cooperatives to enhance child labor monitoring in the cocoa supply
chain and facilitate enforcement of child labor laws. ILAB is also
funding programming to help law enforcement, private sector due
diligence monitors, social service and civil society organizations, and
workers themselves to prevent, detect, and eliminate forced labor and
labor trafficking in supply chains.
During the most recent meeting of the Child Labor Cocoa
Coordinating Group (CLCCG)--a group established in 2010 under the
Declaration and Framework-- in May 2021, the Governments of Cote
d'Ivoire and Ghana, the International Chocolate and Cocoa Industry and
ILAB agreed on the need to continue to coordinate on joint efforts to
reduce child labor in the cocoa sector. ILAB is currently engaged in
dialogue with the two governments and industry on ways to (1) expand
this partnership to include other donor governments (e.g., the E.U.)
and organizations; (2) promote more active engagement with worker
organizations and civil society actors; (3) expand the scope of efforts
to include a greater focus on forced labor and human trafficking and
the advancement of decent work; (4) take good practices to scale and
increase support to children and families in more remote areas where
NORC research found the most significant increase in child labor; and
(5) increase transparency and develop and report more regularly on
indicators of progress.
ILAB will also continue to report on child labor and forced labor
in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana in its three flagship reports--the Findings
on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the List of Goods Produced by Child
Labor or Forced Labor, and the List of Products Produced by Forced or
Indentured Child Labor. In addition, ILAB continues to engage in active
dialogue with other U.S. government agencies, such as the State
Department, USAID, USDA, MCC, and DHS/CBP on efforts to combat child
and forced labor in the cocoa sector and potential opportunities for
enhancing interagency coordination and collaboration.
ofccp enforcement
Question. Mr. Secretary, the Department of Labor plays a unique and
vital role in Federal contracting policy through the Office of Federal
Contract Compliance Programs to protect workers' rights on jobs created
by Federal contracting. These critical protections ensure the Federal
Government is creating a fair and safe workplace when it does business
with the private-sector. And I'm pleased to see that the Biden
Administration has placed such a substantial emphasis on these
protections, including a guarantee of a $15 an hour minimum wage.
Mr. Secretary--how would your Department use the funds requested
for OFCCP to vigorously enforce anti-discrimination, safety, pay, and
other important protections for workers on Federal contracts?
Answer. OFCCP would use the $140,732,000 in funds requested for
fiscal year 2022 to rebuild its workforce, strengthen its enforcement
to remove systemic barriers to equal opportunity, advance workplace
equity, increase contractor accountability, and invest in its
technological infrastructure. An investment of critically needed
resources will enable OFCCP to play a powerful role in advancing
President Biden's commitment to equity by addressing employment
inequities that have denied opportunities to vulnerable workers.
Rebuilding Workforce
The fiscal year 2022 OFCCP funding request is $140,732,000 and 639
FTE. This includes a program increase in the amount of $34,756,000 and
188 FTE to rebuild OFCCP's workforce. Over the past 4 years, OFCCP's
staffing levels have dropped significantly. In fiscal year 2020, OFCCP
operated with a staffing level of 452 full-time equivalents (FTE)
compared to 755 in fiscal year 2011.
Strengthening Enforcement
Specifically, the agency will focus on identifying ways to
strategically allocate our limited resources on comprehensive
compliance evaluations that identify and remedy systemic issues
including in hiring and pay, especially as our economy begins to
rebuild. Our approach has often been data driven to identify
disparities, but OFCCP is interested in developing strategic approaches
to identify issues that do not lend themselves to the same kinds of
statistical analysis, such as discrimination against workers with
disabilities and LGBTQ+ workers.
OFCCP will also focus on reinvigorating its compliance program for
Federal construction contractors and subcontractors and federally
assisted construction contractors and subcontractors. This effort will
be instrumental for the Department to ensure equal employment
opportunity for good jobs in the construction industry. OFCCP plans to
launch an outreach and education campaign to advance equity in
construction contractor workplaces and to educate workers of their
rights under the mandates enforced by OFCCP.
On its regulatory agenda, OFCCP listed its intention to modernize
its supply and service regulations. OFCCP is interested in updating its
requirements to align them with the realities of today's workforce and
how employers operate. The agency is considering how it can streamline
its processes and reduce unnecessary burdens on contractors while
ensuring OFCCP can comprehensively address indicators of discrimination
across all its authorities.
Workplace Equity Initiative
The funding request would support OFCCP developing a comprehensive
initiative to advance all forms of equity at work. President Biden has
made a historic commitment to advancing equity, prioritizing it as a
key pillar of his Administration. OFCCP has a critical opportunity to
work with a broad coalition of stakeholders in the pursuit of a common
goal--to eliminate discrimination in the workplace and proactively
advance equality of opportunity for all workers, including women,
people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, veterans, and
people belonging to multiple protected classes.
The purpose of this initiative is to identify promising practices,
evidenced-based research, and innovative initiatives that can lead to
more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces that increase equity
in employment opportunities. In particular, the initiative will focus
on examining employment practices that have been effective in closing
pay gaps, increasing the recruitment and hiring of underrepresented
workers, and facilitating the promotion of underrepresented workers
into senior-level and executive positions.
Technology Modernization
In fiscal year 2022, OFCCP will continue to prioritize expediting
the modernization of its technology to promote greater employer
compliance while maximizing the efficiency of agency staff. This
includes completing OFCCP's Compliance Management System (CMS)
development and deploying the Notification Construction Award Portal
(NCAP), which allows Federal procurement officers, States, and
construction contractors and subcontractors to electronically notify
OFCCP of constructions awards valued at $10,000 or more. This IT
modernization effort centralizes the notification process in the
national office, increasing field efficiencies by relieving staff from
having to manage contract award notifications
Question. Please describe your hiring plans for the proposed
investments in OFCCP included in your budget request.
Answer. This funding request specifically supports the hiring,
retention, and training of a highly qualified and diverse workforce to
support OFCCP in advancing its mission through enforcement, outreach
and education, stakeholder engagement, and compliance assistance while
emphasizing efficiency, productivity, and accountability throughout the
organization. The support for additional staff will enable OFCCP to
strengthen its capacity to conduct compliance evaluations, and identify
and resolve instances of systemic discrimination in hiring and pay.
OFCCP is actively hiring to fill critical vacancies the agency lost
over the course of several years, especially compliance officers. OFCCP
is strengthening its internal capacity to support the hiring surge by
filling the vacant HR Branch Chief position and hiring additional
management analysts to support the agency's hiring and employee
engagement needs. To expedite the hiring process, OFCCP is utilizing
standardized position descriptions, single vacancy announcements for
multiple positions at various locations, and an array of hiring
authorities, including the Recent Graduate authority for entry level
positions. In addition, OFCCP encourages its employees to share
announcements through their professional and social networks. OFCCP is
also working with OHR to reach a diverse talent pool for its vacancy
announcements.
OFCCP is developing several new training courses and resources for
its compliance officers. With the recent OMB approval of the
construction scheduling letter and the upcoming release of the
construction scheduling list, OFCCP will ensure that its compliance
officers are fully trained to handle construction compliance
evaluations in the most efficient and effective manner. This training
is scheduled to commence prior to the release of the scheduling list.
OFCCP is also developing training for new compliance officers. The
training will cover the foundational topics a new compliance officer
must know in order to successfully start performing their job, such as
relevant legal authorities, policies, enforcement authorities,
compliance evaluations, complaint processing, and compliance
assistance. This training will be ongoing for all cohorts of new
compliance officers as the agency continues to hire.
The training OFCCP provides to its compliance officers allows them
to communicate agency standards and processes through compliance
assistance and apply those standards and processes during compliance
evaluations and complaint investigations. A uniform training program
ensures consistency in training across the regional offices, which is
critical in following OFCCP's regulations, processes, and procedures
and carrying out the agency's mission. OFCCP will continue to
prioritize investing in compliance officer training as the agency
rebuilds and hires.
osha farmworker safety
Question. Under a longstanding appropriations rider of more than 40
years, farms with fewer than 10 employees at all times during the prior
year and no temporary labor camp within the previous 12 months are
exempt from enforcement of all rules and requirements of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act. Yet, according to the National
Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, agriculture ranks as one
of the most dangerous industries, with farmers at a very high risk for
fatal or non-fatal injuries. Any worksite fatality is unacceptable and
every step must be taken to avoid such tragic loss of life.
How would the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
use Federal funds to improve farmworker safety if Congress removed this
rider in the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill for the Department of
Labor? Please describe compliance assistance it would undertake, as
well as how farms would be factored into planned enforcement
activities, including any emphasis programs or directives.
Answer. The existing appropriations rider has precluded OSHA from
conducting enforcement activities at a farming operation if it: (1)
employs 10 or fewer non-family member employees currently and all times
during the preceding twelve months and (2) has not had an active
temporary labor camp during the preceding twelve months. If Congress
removes the rider, OSHA can respond to imminent danger situations at
currently exempt farming operations and remove employees from those
dangers. The agency would also be able to respond to employee
complaints regarding workplace safety and health hazards, and
investigate fatalities (such as from grain engulfment) and severe
injuries. Lastly, OSHA would include small farming operations in
programmed or planned inspections, such as national, regional, and
local emphasis programs, that are aimed at specific high-hazard
industries.
While the appropriations rider has significant implications for
OSHA's enforcement activity, it should first be noted that it has not
prevented the agency from developing and distributing workplace safety
and health resources for agricultural settings, including those where
OSHA is unable to conduct enforcement. For example, OSHA maintains an
Agricultural Operations Safety and Health Topics Page with information
about hazards related to grain bins and silos, hazard communication of
chemicals, noise, musculoskeletal injuries, heat, and others. OSHA also
has a plethora of publications in both English and Spanish that are
relevant to agricultural operations that may be printed from the
agency's website directly or ordered free of charge from our
Publications Office.
The agency also conducts significant outreach to the agricultural
industry as a whole, and engages with agricultural industry
stakeholders whose target audiences include small agricultural
workplaces and family-operated farms. For example, following a
significant increase in fatal grain engulfments between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016, OSHA's Regions 5, 6, 7, and 8 launched a
``Stand-Up for Grain Engulfment Prevention'' event in fiscal year 2017.
That same year, OSHA signed an Alliance with the National Grain and
Feed Association, which helped to expand the Grain Stand-Up. Two
additional organizations, the Grain Elevator and Processing Society
(GEAPS) and Grain Handling Safety Coalition (GHSC), have since joined
the Alliance and lent their resources to expanding this initiative.
GHSC, in particular, has played a key role in ensuring the Grain Stand-
Up reaches smaller growers/producers over which OSHA does not have
jurisdiction.
If the rider were removed, and funds became available, OSHA could
greatly expand its outreach to smaller agricultural employers and
workers. Staff could pursue new relationships with Federal and state
farm associations, and proactively establish alliances for the express
purpose of conducting outreach, developing educational materials, and
providing workplace safety and health training opportunities to smaller
farm owners, operators, and employees. Removal of the rider would also
enable OSHA to expand its On-Site Consultation Program to provide no-
cost workplace safety and health services to smaller agricultural
operations who were previously not eligible for these services.
Information collected during OSHA's inspections (e.g., regarding types
and location of fatalities in smaller farm operations) could also be
used to strengthen, and more effectively target, outreach and
compliance assistance.
Question. How would OSHA use Federal funds to improve farmworker
safety if Congress were instead to modify the rider by allowing the
fiscal year 2022 appropriation to be used only to investigate
fatalities on such small farms and provide associated compliance
assistance necessary to decrease the likelihood of a similar injury or
fatality?
Answer. Farming operations experience workplace fatalities from a
variety of hazards, including from grain engulfment, falls from
structures, entanglement in grain moving machinery, and electrocution.
Researchers with the Agricultural Safety and Health Program of Purdue
University publish a report yearly, showing trends in the number of
grain entrapments and associated fatalities. Because small farming
operations are exempt from OSHA enforcement activities, OSHA cannot
investigate such incidents and determine the root causes to prevent
recurrence of such incidents. If Congress modifies the rider, OSHA can
inspect and thoroughly investigate the fatalities, and provide
necessary abatement methods and hazard recognition training to
employers engaged in small farming operations.
We assume that the provision of the direct compliance assistance
would be limited to the employers involved in the fatalities
investigated, and focused on decreasing the likelihood of a similar
injury or fatality at that facility. In this case, the agency would
continue the outreach it already engages in (noted above) but could not
meaningfully expand proactive outreach and compliance assistance to
smaller farm operations. In many instances, when OSHA responds to a
fatality in an agricultural operation and determines that it has no
enforcement jurisdiction (e.g., where an incident is voluntarily
reported), the responding staff will nevertheless advise them that
there is important safety and health information on the OSHA website
that could help them to decrease the likelihood of a similar injury or
fatality. However, the agency could enhance this effort by using the
findings gathered through any resulting investigations to augment
existing compliance assistance materials and share them broadly through
its outreach efforts. The agency may also be able to engage with the
individual employers through the On-site Consultation program; this
would need to be evaluated at the time the rider is issued.
multilingual worker protection staff
Question. The missions of worker protection agencies of the
Department of Labor include coverage of and assistance to all workers,
including those who speak languages other than English.
Please provide current counts of the number of multilingual staff
for the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) in total and by region.
Answer. OSHA has a total of 111 staff who are multilingual. The
breakout by region is shown in the table below.
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OSHA Multilingual Staff 2021
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Region Staff
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 8
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 38
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 16
------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Office 2
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Total 111
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These data were provided by the Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Administration and Management and includes positions that may
require a foreign language capability.
In total, WHD has 573 employees who are multilingual and speak 21
different languages.
By Region, the Northeast Region has 136 multilingual staff, the
Midwest Region has 87 multilingual staff, the Southeast Region has 107
multilingual staff, the Southwest Region has 117 multilingual staff,
and the Western Region has 126 multilingual staff.
Question. How will the Department use resources in the current
fiscal year and requested for fiscal year 2022 to recruit and hire
multilingual, qualified candidates for roles as investigators,
inspectors and other critical positions where language barriers could
prevent an agency from fulfilling its statutory mission? How will the
Department assess such language gaps and plan to meet its language
needs in carrying out the missions of its agencies?
Answer. OSHA plans to recruit and hire multilingual qualified
candidates for investigators, inspectors and other positions by working
with organizations such as Historically Black Colleges and
Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, the Asian American Network
and other organizations so that the agency's workforce has the
multilingual capabilities that reflects the communities that OSHA
serves. By reaching the most hazardous worksites and facilities, the
agency not only helps secure safe and healthy workplaces and reduce
workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths, but also protects at-risk
workers in marginalized communities, who are less likely to have the
protections and training to work safely in high-hazard workplaces.
The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) utilizes targeted recruitment
strategies to attract a diverse pool of highly qualified candidates for
WHD positions. WHD routinely includes language requirements when hiring
to ensure that investigators can successfully communicate with workers
and employers about their rights and responsibilities under the law.
Currently, WHD has more than 570 multilingual staff.
In fiscal year 2022 WHD will continue to assess hiring needs
through a data-driven approach that will help to identify gaps in
services and resource allocation to particular communities. WHD is
implementing plans to increase recruitment and outreach to Minority
Serving Institutions and community based organizations to continue to
reach diverse applicants and ensure a pipeline of investigators who
reflect the communities they serve. Finally, WHD is opening positions
in remote, low-wage, underserved communities nationwide and increasing
flexibility in telework to serve these areas.
Question. Please describe how the WHD and OSHA will work with
stakeholders, including community-based organizations in reaching
worker populations such as those with language access barriers and
other factors that may contribute to a decreased likelihood of filing
of a complaint for a violation of labor law protections.
Answer. OSHA remains committed to working with and engaging its
whistleblower stakeholders. The agency has been conducting two
stakeholder meetings per year, some targeting specific industries,
seeking input and suggestions from them on a myriad of issues, such as
how to provide better customer service and how to conduct better
outreach to the public. The agency also listens to their concerns
regarding how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their workplaces.
The agency reviews each and every comment and suggestion from these
meetings and has implemented a number of them.
As a result of the most recent stakeholder meeting in May 2021,
OSHA is reaching out to migrant worker groups who provided comments, to
more fully understand their concerns, and to work with them on enhanced
ways to reach out to the people they represent. In addition, the
agency's whistleblower website, www.whistleblowers.gov, contains many
outreach documents that provide information to workers who may have
been retaliated against for engaging in protected activity. Much of the
information is available in English and Spanish.
The agency is committed to not only inform workers of their rights,
but also to remind employers of their responsibilities under these
laws. Moreover, OSHA is actively promoting its Recommended Practices
for Anti-Retaliation Programs guidance document, which focuses on
assisting employers in creating an effective anti-retaliation program
in their workplaces, where workers feel comfortable reporting concerns
without fear of retaliation, and without the need to file a
whistleblower complaint in the first place.
OSHA continues to prioritize outreach to vulnerable worker
populations. For example, OSHA translated its educational and outreach
materials into Spanish \1\ and more than 30 other languages.\2\ These
resources are printable from OSHA's website and print copies may be
shipped at no cost upon request. Several focus specifically on
workplace rights \3\ and OSHA created a video on filing a complaint
that is available in both English \4\ and Spanish,\5\ which is shared
along with its publications through the agency's outreach efforts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/odep/odep20200429-0.
\2\ https://www.osha.gov/publications/bylanguage.
\3\ https://www.osha.gov/publications/bytopic/workers'-rights-
outreach.
\4\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=k70Ln7gRWDE.
\5\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=zgv-Fuqx3K4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OSHA's Labor Liaisons \6\ maintain communication with organized and
unorganized workers, Committees on Occupational Health and Safety,
worker centers and coalitions, helping them navigate OSHA's
organizational structure and complaint procedures, and assisting them
in developing and updating health and safety programs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ https://www.osha.gov/workers/liasons.
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The agency maintains regular communication with worker advocacy
organizations such as the National Council for Occupational Safety and
Health (National COSH), to ensure that safety concerns workers have
about their jobs are heard and addressed. On June 23, 2021, Acting
Assistant Secretary Jim Frederick participated in a bilingual town hall
meeting where he responded directly to questions from farm, poultry
plant, nursing home and other workers. Topics included the urgent need
to protect workers from heat exposure and the COVID-19 Emergency
Temporary Standard for healthcare. The recording is available in
English here \7\ and in Spanish here.\8\
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\7\ https://drive.google.com/file/d/
1HFikHihuIMbB69LGgdNsRsVkWCINtOXG/view.
\8\ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gbM7sdTTonaNEGaMP-
PVO3Itdpf3uoH4/view.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OSHA has numerous regional and area office alliances with
Consulates \9\ of Mexico and other Latin American countries through
which the agency shares information in English and Spanish about
workplace safety and health hazards and workers' rights, including use
of the OSHA complaint process. OSHA's Region 5 Regional Office also has
an Alliance with the Consulate of the Philippines in Chicago.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ https://www.osha.gov/alliances/byemphasis#consulate-alliances.
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OSHA Compliance Assistance Specialists participate in regional task
forces and committees established to protect migrant farmworkers in
both the midwest and southeastern United States. Each August, OSHA and
WHD collaborate in supporting Labor Rights Week, a joint initiative
between the governments of the United States and Mexico to increase
awareness in the Mexican and Latino communities about the rights of
workers, including immigrant workers.
WHD is currently engaged in the Essential Workers, Essential
Protections initiative, which includes collaborating with stakeholders
nationwide to train them in protections for the most vulnerable, at-
risk worker populations as we emerge from the pandemic. Efforts to date
include conducting hundreds of educational webinars, reaching more than
26,000 participants; training advocates on how to file complaints;
producing and continuing to air television and radio public service
announcements in English and Spanish; and producing and placing
workers' rights posters in local stores to reach marginalized
populations. A nationwide series of listening sessions is now underway
to hear directly from stakeholders in contact with these workers how we
can better reach them. These efforts are designed to strengthen
relationships with community based organizations who are trusted
resources for the most vulnerable workers and can refer workers, file
third-party complaints, and amplify WHD's enforcement efforts.
subminimum wage
Question. The budget requests $42.7 million, an increase of $3.7
for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). The budget notes
a priority for ODEP to advise Federal agencies and assist states and
employers in transitioning workers away from sub-minimum wage
employment currently authorized under 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
Act to competitive, integrated employment. My home state of Washington
recently enacted legislation ending a similar authority for issuing
certificates to pay workers with a disability less than the state
minimum wage generally as of July 31, 2023.
Please identify the Federal agencies involved and describe the
planned advisements that ODEP has for this and next year.
Answer. ODEP works with multiple Federal agencies to advance
competitive integrated employment (CIE) in order to reduce reliance on
Section 14(c) certificates. CIE is employment that pays at least the
Federal minimum wage (or state minimum wage when higher) and allows an
employee with a disability to interact with people without disabilities
to the same extent able-bodied employees interact with one another. The
main Federal agencies ODEP collaborates with include:
--AbilityOne
--Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs (OFCCP)
--DOL, Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
--DOL, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
--DOL, Veterans' Employment and Training Services (VETS)
--DOL, Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
--Department of Education (ED), National Institute on Disability
Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)
--ED, Office of Career Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE)
--ED, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS)
--ED, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
--ED, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
--Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for
Community Living (ACL)
--HHS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
--HHS, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA)
--Social Security Administration (SSA)
--Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration
(VHA)
--VA, Veterans Readiness and Employment (VRE)
ODEP planned activities and advisements for this year and next year
to promote CIE: In fiscal year 2021, ODEP is investing significant
effort \10\ to advance national and state-level policy promoting CIE to
reduce reliance on Section 14(c) certificates. ODEP maintains a list of
state ``Employment First'' policies and initiatives aimed at phasing-
out Section 14(c). The list is readily available to share with Federal
agencies, state partners and other stakeholders on request. ODEP
maintains a learning library of webinars and resources focused
specifically on advancing CIE and has worked directly in over 27 states
to align state policy, funding and service strategies to incentivize
integrated over segregated employment. ODEP remains a resource for
Federal agencies and state/local systems on use of best practices for
achieving CIE, such as supported and customized employment, and
reasonable accommodations. In designing activities to advance CIE and
eliminate Section 14(c) employment, ODEP organized the recommendations
of the Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive, Integrated
Employment for Individuals with Disabilities (ACICIEID) into 10
critical areas. These 10 areas are needed for employment service
providers and systems to transform their systems from segregated to
competitive integrated business models and provide the overarching
framework for ODEP's work. Based on this framework, ODEP created a
Transformation Guide for states to assist in organizing the multiple
aspects of transformation needed across policy, funding and practice to
achieve CIE.\11\ Specific ODEP activities and advisements for fiscal
year 2021-2022 include:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/integrated-
employment.
\11\ http://drivedisabilityemployment.org/employment-first-
resources/e1st-state-transformation-guide.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--National Expansion for Employment Opportunities Network (NEON):
ODEP's NEON project assists provider agencies to increase CIE
outcomes and thus reduce reliance on Section 14(c) employment.
In fiscal year 2020, NEON selected and worked with five
national provider organizations (NPOs): ACCESS, the American
Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), the
Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE), the
Arc US and SourceAmerica. ODEP helped the NPOs create national
strategic plans for their employment provider networks to
transition away from Section 14(c) strategies and increase CIE
outcomes. Through NEON, ODEP also supported 19 local provider
organizations (LPOs) transition to CIE in fiscal year 2020. In
fiscal year 2021, NEON is assisting 48 providers in 19 states,
including Washington state. ODEP is also working through NEON
to create a National Plan to Increase CIE within the provider
community (anticipated for release in late 2021). In addition,
ODEP manages a monthly Community of Practice bringing national
experts, promising practices and real-life examples of provider
transformation to the over 2,700 participants from every state.
In fiscal year 2022, NEON will support up to 75 LPOs with
transition to CIE, and will provide support and technical
assistance to implement the NEON National Plan to Increase
CIE.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/odep/odep20200429-0.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Advancing State Policy Integration for Recovery and Employment
(ASPIRE): Established in fiscal year 2021, ODEP's ASPIRE
initiative provides technical assistance to seven states to
help them develop and align policies, funding and service
strategies to increase CIE for people with mental health
conditions. Each state is required to involve key systems that
provide employment service and support including: Vocational
Rehabilitation, Mental/Behavioral Health, Medicaid and
Workforce Development. ASPIRE's goal is to coordinate policy,
funding and service strategies to increase availability of
evidence-based supported employment opportunities for people
with mental health conditions in the state. A technical working
group (TWG) composed of national mental health stakeholder
organizations, mental health national experts and intermediary
associations of state and local government agencies provide
ongoing information and assistance to ASPIRE states. In
addition, a supported employment learning community meets
monthly to bring cutting-edge information on key issues in
supported employment implementation to ASPIRE states. In fiscal
year 2022, ODEP will expand the number of states included in
ASPIRE, and will utilize its State Exchange on Employment and
Disability (SEED) to increase state policy alignment across
systems to increase CIE for people with mental health
conditions.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/initiatives/aspire.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--ODEP's work with VA and DOL VETS on CIE for Veterans with
Disabilities: In fiscal year 2021, ODEP partnered with the VA's
VRE and VHA and DOL's VETS to develop and release two videos to
raise awareness about customized employment as an effective
strategy to help veterans with disabilities move from sheltered
employment or unemployment into CIE. Released in February 2021,
the videos are available at: Customized Employment Works for
Veterans: A Job That I Love \14\ and Customized Employment
Works for Veterans: A Win-Win Strategy.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=xIsekJpeyiw.
\15\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5CFjKwJtXqc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--ODEP work on Rate Rebalancing to Incentivize CIE: In May 2021, ODEP
released a comprehensive policy guide on state rate
reimbursement restructuring titled ``Value-Based Payment
Methodologies to Advance Competitive Integrated Employment: A
Mix of Inspiring Examples from Across the Country''. Guidance
on rate reimbursement restructuring is critical to increasing
CIE for people with significant disabilities. Many existing
rate structures are based on the assumption that some people
with disabilities are incapable of work, rather than on an
Employment First framework that assumes all people are capable
of work if given the necessary supports, accommodations and
work environment. ODEP developed three webinars on rate
restructuring in which relevant state agencies (Medicaid,
Vocational Rehabilitation, Mental/Behavioral Health) and
providers discuss how adjusting service rates enabled them to
incentivize CIE over segregated work models. This is important
because some state systems may reimburse providers higher
amounts for segregated outcomes. These systems could instead
elect to include services necessary for CIE in their list of
covered services and incentivize their use through higher
reimbursement rates. The webinars providing examples from
multiple states and multiple different systems include: (1)
Value, Outcome and Performance-Based Payment Methodologies to
Advance Competitive Integrated Employment in State Medicaid
Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Systems and Managed Care
LTSS Systems; (2) Supporting Employment Service Providers to
Succeed and Prosper by Partnering to Advance Competitive
Integrated Employment: Applying Value, Outcome and Performance-
Based Payment Methodologies; and (3) Advancing Competitive
Integrated Employment: Value, Outcome and Performance-Based
Payment Methodologies in State Vocational Rehabilitation and
Behavioral Health Systems.
--Financial Literacy and Benefits Planning through the Lifespan:
Financial Literacy Toolkit: ODEP also worked with DOL's EBSA to
develop a toolkit for youth and adults with disabilities to
assist with their finances as they consider employment,
retention and advancement. It also shows them how they can
build savings. This toolkit provides valuable information for
all phases of employment, including consideration of the impact
on benefits from working as people with disabilities move from
sheltered settings to CIE. It provides information in essential
areas such as work incentives, Achieving a Better Life
Experience (ABLE) accounts, and other areas of financial
literacy essential for people with disabilities. For example,
one important resource is the new fact sheet on the Medicaid
buy-in, developed by ODEP in collaboration with ACL and CMS
(see Medicaid Buy-In Q&A Medicaid ``Buy-In'' Q&A
(dol.gov)).\16\ ODEP will continue to develop new resources in
this area and add them quarterly. On July 27, ODEP and EBSA
hosted a webinar, Secure Your Financial Future: A Toolkit for
Individuals with Disabilities,\17\ to launch this new financial
literacy toolkit.\18\ I provided welcoming remarks for the
webinar.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/odep/topics/
medicaidbuyinqaf.pdf.
\17\ http://leadcenter.org/webinars.
\18\ https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/secure-your-financial-
future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Workforce
Development System: ODEP efforts to expand access to CIE
includes leveraging the services and connections available
through the American Job Centers (AJC) system operated under
WIOA. AJCs can register to become Employment Networks (ENs)
under the Ticket to Work (TTW) program. ENs are reimbursed for
employment services on a milestone basis for successfully
assisting people with disabilities into CIE employment.
Consequently, ODEP worked to expand the impact of the TTW/EN
program by connecting providers of CIE employment services to
ENs. The goal was to leverage additional support in achieving
CIE for people with disabilities who are eligible Social
Security recipients under TTW. To assist in this effort, on May
2021, DOL released a Ticket to Work: Operating a Workforce EN
Planning Guide and Workbook to promote the benefits of
operating as a workforce EN and to enhance awareness of
available resources to help in this process, including guidance
and promising practices. ODEP, ETA and SSA developed this
technical guide with input from 19 workforce systems currently
operating as ENs. The planning guide and workbook assist state
and local area workforce leadership in the process of becoming
and operating as a workforce EN. It includes a set of
activities (e.g., checklists, discussion questions and
exercises) to help walk through the process to make an informed
decision, and serve as an operational resource for existing
workforce ENs. ODEP also held a webinar on May 26, 2021,
Practices in Workforce Employment Network Operation--New
Technical Guidance,\19\ which provided highlights from the
technical guide, promoted the advantages this opportunity
provides to local workforce systems and shared the experiences
of three current workforce systems from the workforce EN
operators.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ https://www.workforcegps.org/events/2021/03/23/13/16/
Practices-in-Workforce-Employment-Network-Operation-New-Technical-
Guidance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Advisement to Federal State and Local Governments, Providers and
Individuals with Disabilities on Current Federal Investments to
Advance CIE: In July 2021, in recognition of the 31st
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ODEP
released a new fact sheet, ``Recent Funding Opportunities to
Expand Access to Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) for
Individuals with Disabilities'', developed in collaboration
with the HHS' CMS, ACL, SAMHSA; ED's RSA and OSEP; and SSA. The
fact sheet highlights new funding and flexibilities which
provide significant opportunities to increase access to CIE for
youth and adults with disabilities. The increased funding and
flexibilities are provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief
and Economic Security Act (CARES), the American Rescue Plan Act
of 2021 (ARP), the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental
Appropriations Act (CRRSA), the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2020 (FCAA), and through the work of
multiple Federal agencies providing services to individuals
with disabilities. The CIE fact sheet is located on the ODEP
web page at: Recent Funding Opportunities to Expand Access to
Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) for Individuals with
Disabilities.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ODEP/pdf/
508_odep_cie_07152021.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Disability Innovation Fund: ED's RSA and ODEP are discussing RSA's
2020 and 2021 Disability Innovation Fund, which currently has
approximately $110 million in fiscal year 2020 available
funding, resulting from unused Federal vocational
rehabilitation funding returned by states. Congress directed
RSA to consult with DOL regarding the use of fiscal year 2021
funds. For the fiscal year 2021 funds, Congress stipulated that
the funds be used to award competitive grants to improve
opportunities for CIE for individuals with disabilities. ODEP
is working with WHD, RSA, ACL and CMS to design the next set of
grants.
Question. How does ODEP plan to assist states and employers in such
transitions?
Answer. ODEP remains committed to helping states and employers
transition from segregated Section 14(c) employment to CIE outcomes.
ODEP's most critical activities include NEON, ASPIRE, and a new
collaboration between ODEP's SEED initiative with ASPIRE and NEON.
--National Expansion for Employment Opportunities Network (NEON): As
described above, ODEP's NEON project assists provider agencies
to increase CIE outcomes and thus reduce reliance on Section
14(c) employment. In fiscal year 2022, NEON will increase the
number of providers developing and implementing transformation
plans and assist states in the critical task of rebalancing/
aligning their service funding in support of CIE. ODEP is also
developing multiple NEON tools for release. These include, but
are not limited to: an Employment First statewide strategic
planning manual to assist states in organizing their statewide
strategic planning efforts to effectively engage stakeholders
and implement Employment First systems change and a state self-
assessment tool for increasing CIE to assist states in
evaluating current policies, practices and infrastructures in
each of the Ten Critical Areas to Increase Competitive
Integrated Employment. The 10 sections of the assessment tool
are based on the recommendations of the final report of the
Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated
Employment for Individuals with Disabilities. Additional focus
in NEON fiscal year 2022 activities will assist providers in
implementing the NEON National Plan to Increase CIE (expected
release late 2021).
--Advancing State Policy Integration for Recovery and Employment
(ASPIRE): As described above, ODEP's ASPIRE initiative is
assisting states and providers with aligning policy, funding
and service strategies across systems This is needed to expand
access to evidence-based supported employment throughout
participating states. In fiscal year 2022, ODEP will expand the
number of states included in ASPIRE, and will collaborate with
ODEP's SEED initiative to increase state policy alignment
across systems in other states to increase CIE for people with
mental health conditions.
--State Exchange on Employment and Disability/ASPIRE/NEON
partnership: ODEP's SEED works through state intermediary
organizations such as the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL), the National Governors Association (NGA),
and the Council of State Governments (CSG) to assist state
legislatures and governors in developing more inclusive
workforce policies that promote disability employment. Since
transitioning away from subminimum wage is a priority for DOL
and an increasing priority for states, SEED and its
intermediaries will actively promote legislative and
administrative policy options for consideration by all of the
states, as well as share examples of recently passed or enacted
legislation. In fiscal year 2022, SEED and its intermediaries,
including NGA, will work with ODEP's ASPIRE and NEON
initiatives to establish a policy collaborative that will focus
on assisting those states supporting CIE and the phase-out of
Section 14(c). States with more mature CIE policy in place will
participate as CIE leaders to assist states with less developed
CIE policy, and subject matter experts will work directly with
participating states to develop CIE transformation plans.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/state-policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
bls move
Question. The last two Department of Labor Appropriations Acts have
appropriated a total of $40 million requested for the move of the
headquarters of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The Congressional
Budget Justifications for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 both identified
this amount as the share of total project costs that BLS would
contribute to the move, with the General Services Administration (GSA)
paying for the remainder of construction and real property costs of
nearly $50 million. The fiscal year 2022 BLS budget requests $28.5
million for a portion of these real property costs and indicates the
remaining costs would be initially financed by the GSA and repaid by
BLS over time after the move is complete.
Why has GSA backed out of paying its share of project costs?
Answer. The fiscal year 2020 Budget, released in March 2019,
announced that the BLS headquarters would move to the Suitland Federal
Center. At the time, based on a high-level assessment of the project,
the Budget estimated a total project cost of $89 million. The personal
property costs of $40 million were assigned to BLS, and GSA was
assigned the real property costs at $49 million. These estimates were
done in advance of a detailed building assessment study which expanded
the scope of the renovation project resulting in a new cost estimate
and a detailed assignment of costs between BLS and GSA. The fiscal year
2022 BLS budget request for $28.5 million reflects this revised cost
estimate and an updated determination that BLS would fund tenant
improvement costs, the costs to be borne by the agency consistent with
the publicly posted GSA pricing guide, through a combination of
appropriated dollars (paid up front) and a tenant improvement allowance
(repaid over time through the rent stream). GSA's fiscal year 2022
budget also reflects increased renovation costs with a request of $20
million in fiscal year 2022. GSA continues to fund all renovation costs
consistent with the pricing guide while BLS is funding the tenant
related costs consistent with projects in GSA owned facilities.
Question. What actions has DOL taken to secure the GSA contribution
that DOL stated in prior Congressional Budget Justifications GSA would
provide?
Answer. Throughout the project, DOL has worked closely with GSA to
refine cost estimates and clarify funding mechanisms. This has involved
numerous and regular meetings with GSA executives within the National
Capital Region, in consultation with the Office of Management and
Budget.
Question. Please describe how the $28.5 million requested for costs
that GSA was going to cover could instead be used to strengthen BLS
programs for measuring labor market activity, working conditions,
productivity and other critical information for understanding the
economy of the United States? What about the additional $23.8 million
in costs that would need to be repaid in the future?
Answer. As mentioned above, the fiscal year 2022 BLS budget request
for $28.5 million reflects the revised cost estimate to realize the
move with the associated reduced footprint and the long-term rent
savings for the BLS National Office. The Department strongly supports
the move, as it will produce considerable savings and efficiencies that
will contribute to BLS' achievement of its mission. If the BLS
appropriation for fiscal year 2022 instead directed the $28.5 million
in additional funding for base programs, the BLS could fund work on
additional statistical program improvements that have been of interest
to Congress, such as improving the Job Openings and Labor Turnover
Survey (JOLTS) and Consumer Expenditure (CE) program poverty
measurement. However, without this funding, the BLS Suitland move would
be interrupted and the project timeline would be prolonged.
Additionally, it is critical for work to proceed in a timely fashion as
the $40 million appropriated to date for the move expires September
2024. Once the BLS National Office is located at Suitland, rental
savings are expected, which could be used to cover the tenant
improvement costs to be repaid over time and future program
improvements.
The $23.8 million in estimated costs to be paid to GSA in the
future are intended to take place over the course of several years in
the form of a tenant improvement allowance. As such, the payments will
be part of the BLS rent bill at the Suitland Federal Center (SFC) and,
at that level, will reduce the expected rent savings at the SFC by
approximately $2.5 million per year.
whd and osha foia requests
Question. With over 1,700 Freedom of Information Act requests
backlogged at the Wage and Hour Division and more than 800 backlogged
at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as of the second
quarter of fiscal year 2021, it's clear more needs to be done to timely
process these requests.
Please identify the funding and staffing level dedicated to this
work at each of these agencies in the current fiscal year and the
amounts and staffing level in the fiscal year 2022 request.
Answer. OSHA's FOIA program is decentralized, with designated staff
performing FOIA work largely as an additional duty in the national
office and field offices across the country, and does not have a
designated budget line item. The funding and staffing for OSHA's FOIA
work is calculated based on a survey on the number of staff involved
and amount of time spent working on the program. In fiscal year 2020,
eight FTE worked full-time on FOIA. Staff working on FOIA as an
additional duty accounted for the equivalent of 54 FTE, for a total of
62 FTE working on the FOIA program at a cost of $6.4 million.
In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division had nine FTE at an
approximate cost of $1.1 million performing work related to the Freedom
of Information Act. In fiscal year 2022, the Wage and Hour Division
expects staffing levels to be 11 FTE for approximately $1.3 million to
perform this work.
Question. What steps are these agencies taking and planning to
timely process FOIA requests?
Answer. OSHA acknowledges that there is room for improvement in the
FOIA program and is working to address the backlog of requests and to
improve the timeliness of responses to new requests. OSHA processes
approximately 9,000 FOIA requests every fiscal year. This accounts for
approximately 60 percent of all FOIA requests that come into the
Department of Labor. OSHA's FOIA program is decentralized and consists
mainly of staff working on FOIA requests as an additional duty. OSHA's
Office of Communications (OOC) coordinates the agency's FOIA program
and routinely coordinates with staff working on FOIA throughout the
country to address any issues, share information, and provide necessary
training. OOC continuously looks for ways to improve the effectiveness
and efficiency of the FOIA program. For example, OOC has conducted two
pilots to evaluate potential changes to the program's structure in
order to streamline and improve overall efficiency, consistency and
quality of the agency's FOIA process. The agency is evaluating the
results of the pilots and is considering next steps.
During fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division has reduced its
FOIA back log from 530 outstanding requests at the end of fiscal year
2020 to 285 as of July 30, 2021. WHD has accomplished this by
recruiting and retaining FOIA leadership and staff as well as
leveraging technological tools to speed processing requested records
within WHD.
ebsa consolidated budget
Question. The budget request for the Employee Benefit
Administration (EBSA) requests a consolidated employee benefits
security programs budget activity in place of separate budget
activities for enforcement and participant assistance, policy and
compliance assistance, and administration.
How would this new structure better enable EBSA to achieve its
statutory mission?
Answer. EBSA seeks to aggregate and consolidate program budget
activities for enforcement and participant assistance, policy and
compliance assistance, and program oversight.
By restructuring these three budget activities into a single
activity for Employee Benefits Security Programs, EBSA can simplify
agency performance reporting and streamline agency performance and
operating plan development and implementation.
Question. How would EBSA continue to provide transparency and
oversight of its spending for each of the eliminated budget activities?
Answer. EBSA believes that restructuring its budget activities will
facilitate the allocation and redistribution of resources from lesser
performing and lower priority strategies/programs to better performing
and higher priority strategies/programs. The restructured budget
activities will create a responsive organization that facilitates
results-based management. Additionally, the restructured budget
eliminates artificial lines between activities, all of which are aimed
at a single outcome--employee benefits security. While this
restructuring would promote the more efficient allocation of resources,
it would not have any negative impact on EBSA's ability and
responsibility to report responsibly to Congress on how it expends
appropriated funds or on the agency's resulting performance.
research and evaluation funding
Question. The budget proposes new evaluation funding flexibility
for the Chief Evaluation Officer and Bureau of Labor Statistics at the
Department of Labor, as well as for certain offices within the
Department of Health and Human Services.
Please describe how each of the new authorities requested would
better advance research, evaluation and statistical purposes at the
Department of Labor.
Answer. High-quality evaluations, research, and statistical surveys
are essential to building evidence about what works, why, and for whom.
They are also inherently complicated, dynamic activities, with
uncertainty about the timing and amount of work required to design,
implement, and complete the studies. Further, we often want to know
about the outcomes for workers both in the short- and longer-term. This
usually requires information collections spanning five or more years
beyond the particular intervention or program under study. The proposal
allows flexibility to strategically plan evaluations over time by
extending the obligation period to 5 years, rather than constraining
obligation within 1-2 years (as current authorities for BLS or the
Chief Evaluation Office allow). In addition, the currently available
procurement vehicles lack the flexibility needed to match the dynamic
nature of these evidence-building projects. Some studies provide high
quality information useful across DOL sub-agencies or across Federal
agencies; the proposed authority to use a single Treasury account for
such activities, when multiple originating appropriations are used,
enables efficiencies for awarding contracts to evaluate DOL programs
when portions of funding from several DOL accounts are needed to
sufficiently fund the project, or when cosponsoring research across
Federal agencies. The proposed flexibilities enable DOL to maximize the
use of evaluation resources, reduce burden to the public, and mitigate
duplication of Federal efforts.
Further, evaluation and research projects often encounter
unexpected circumstances due to their dynamic nature. The proposed
authority would permit unexpended funds to be repurposed for another
research, evaluation, or statistical project, which is often not
currently possible because of the time-limited and inflexible nature of
these funds. This would allow the funds to be used efficiently for
their original intent. In order to streamline these procurement
processes, improve efficiency, and make better use of existing
evaluation resources the Budget proposes to provide the Department of
Labor with expanded flexibilities to spend funds over a longer period
of time through the ``Evaluation Funding Flexibility'' outlined in
General Provision, Section 521. This request is part of a provision
which includes the Departmental Program Evaluation activity in the
Departmental Management appropriation and the Bureau of Labor
Statistics; as well as the Department of Health and Human Services'
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Office for
Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children
and Families. These flexibilities will allow agencies to meet the
collective aim of efficient government investment in evidence-building
with embedded adaptability to reflect changing circumstances on the
ground.
wcf unobligated balances
Question.The budget proposes to increase the transfer authority
from unobligated balances available to the Secretary in fiscal year
2022 to the Working Capital Fund (WCF) from $18,000,000 to $36,000,000.
The budget also proposes to create a multi-year funding authority for
building space optimization within the WCF.
Please identify the additional investments that could be supported
by the increased transfer authority and describe the cost avoidance and
risk reduction expected to be achieved through these additional
projects.
Answer. The Department will use these funds to modernize a host of
legacy agency applications. DOL's 27 agencies have developed and
maintained distinct, customized systems and applications to meet the
unique requirements of their respective missions, but many of these
systems and applications are outdated and quite cumbersome by modern
standards. These legacy applications are costly to maintain,
inefficient for both Federal staff and the public to use, and are less
secure than modernized alternatives.
The Department is well prepared to modernize these systems thanks
to investments in the centralized IT platform made through the IT
Modernization appropriation. By investing in and promoting DOL's
centralized IT platform, the Department has established common
foundational components that are being leveraged across the Department
to ensure scalability, reliability, innovative development and minimum
time to deployment. DOL's platform and standardized process to
consolidate disparate and outdated systems, enables data sharing and
component re-use--allowing DOL to be forward-focused and on the
forefront of innovation with capabilities such as data analytics, case
management, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and Robotic
Process Automation. In addition to access to this standardized process
and best practices, agencies have access to optimized infrastructure in
a hyper-converged, hybrid-cloud data center environment and
technologies that facilitate design of an overall improved user
experience to allow employees to focus on mission work instead of
technology. The cloud-based platform has helped achieve DOL-wide
operational efficiencies in support of mission-driven IT applications
resulting in consolidated resources, eliminated redundancies,
accelerated modernization, and enhanced security.
While DOL has made significant progress in investing in the IT
platform, there is still an extensive list of legacy systems requiring
modernization overhauls. By applying a set of common criteria, DOL
prioritized legacy systems for modernization. DOL has been working to
address the top 50 systems and is making progress in this multi-year
effort. Based on DOL's FITARA's score, DOL has a proven track record of
making the right investment decisions to streamline technologies and
garner efficiencies for its IT, but budget limitations impede progress.
Consolidating, integrating, and updating DOL's legacy systems improves
DOL's security posture with capabilities such as standardized PIV-based
application access, multi-factor authentication, Continuous Diagnostics
& Mitigation (CDM) for cyber incident detection and response, and real-
time vulnerability and threat monitoring. Investing in information
technology provides significant public-impacting benefits in many
policy areas, including mine safety, visa processing, grants
management, and retirement benefits assurance, among many others. This
authority will enable DOL to modernize systems to ease public access to
DOL services, improve accessibility for users with disabilities,
mitigate security issues due to legacy technologies, and reduce the
increasing costs of supporting incompatible and obsolete technologies.
Each effort will improve reliability and accessibility for the public
to the Department's programs for employment, worker safety and health,
and benefits.
The investments that can benefit by the increased budget authority
include (but are not limited to):
--OLMS--Electronic Labor Organization Reporting System (e.LORS)
Investment: OCIO has identified e.LORS as one of the highest
priority systems in the Department for modernization due to
inherent risks associated with this outdated legacy technology
which has no vendor support nor is it supportable by DOL's
cloud-based enterprise platform infrastructure. Modernization
is projected to provide initial annual cost savings of
approximately $600,000 the year following initial deployment.
After the system is fully deployed, OLMS expects to experience
a 15 percent savings in annual IT cost due to a reduction in
costs for maintenance of the new system versus the old.
--OSHA--Information Management System Investment: The data
modernization and Transparency Initiative will help with the
Agency's ability to store data, retrieve it in the most
applicable form for operational use, and provide it in the most
user-friendly format for the public. Internally, easier
accessibility, paired with standardized data output from the
OSHA systems, will result in more efficient searches and better
ability for staff to analyze the data to lead to swifter
decisionmaking. Improvements in data retrieval and analysis
could also provide OSHA staff with insight into the types of
violations they might find at a facility, or enable a
compliance assistance specialist to provide best practices to
abate hazards most likely to be found at the worksite. These
efficiencies will lead to improved performance and cost savings
will be realized in the higher utilization by OSHA data
stakeholders of standardized reports with reliable information.
--WHD--Wage Determination System Investment: Modernizing the agency's
technology infrastructure is critical to WHD's success and a
key factor in mitigating risk across the agency. With the
recent implementation of the Electronic Case File (ECF), WHD is
realizing the ways in which streamlined business processes and
more agile technology can revolutionize and bring value to the
agency's work. In doing so, WHD improves its abilities to be
good stewards of taxpayer money and to provide the best
possible service and results to those the agency is here to
serve. Cost savings will be achieved in the following areas:
(1) a shift to the cloud will minimize the need for WHD to pay
for expensive O&M resources, which will yield an estimated
savings of $3 million per year; (2) elimination of paper record
keeping costs associated with case files storage and
administration once ECF is fully rolled out, will yield an
estimated savings of $500,000 per year which equates to
1,557,000 pages transferred between offices and to record
centers per year; and (3) automated ingestion of data through
the new WDS customer portal will yield a reduced need for
contractor support on data entry and processing of paper
records and provide an estimated savings of $300,000 per year
in actual contract costs. This represents total costs impacts
of $4 million per year, which can be readily redirected towards
mission-critical enforcement staff and activities.
--OFCCP--Case Management System Investment: The Affirmative Action
Verification Initiative (AAVI) is modernization need that would
allow OFCCP to ingest and process its administrative data in a
more uniform digital format. It will also allow staff to
retrieve and store data in a central repository that will
improve operations and enforcement by driving efficiency and
increasing the number and depth of analytical assessments
performed by the scheduling, policy, and enforcement branches.
Once development is completed, the ongoing costs will be
operations & maintenance, and a fraction of the help desk
service. The total operating cost is anticipated to be reduced
by approximately 65 percent, assuming no further development
efforts.
Question. How will the Department assure that unobligated balances
for the WCF are only generated from unexpected balances rather than the
delay of spending on the original purpose of the Congressional
appropriation?
Answer. The Department has a robust program to ensure that
unobligated balances are only generated from unexpected balances. The
Office of the Chief Financial Officer meets regularly with agencies to
review budget execution data and, in coordination with the Performance
Management Center, tracks the percent of discretionary appropriations
canceled after the five-year period of obligation authority has
expired. The results are reported in the Congressional Budget
Justification. In fiscal year 2020, the Department targeted 1.9 percent
in canceled appropriations and outperformed this target with a
cancellation rate of only 1.6 percent.
learning agendas and evaluation plan
Question. The ``Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of
2018'' includes key provisions related to developing a multi-year
learning agenda, evaluation plan, improving coordination of data
government at the Department, and improving accessibility of labor
data. The Department has indicated it plans to release an updated
learning agenda and Capacity Assessment for Research, Evaluation,
Statistics, and Analysis in February 2022.
Please describe stakeholder consultations that have occurred or
will occur during the development of these plans.
Answer. The Department has engaged with a wide range of
stakeholders external to DOL to understand evidence production, use,
and future needs. For example, given the critical role of the
Department in supporting the public workforce system across the
country, DOL targeted early engagement with the workforce development
field. From November 2020 to April 2021, the Department sponsored
unstructured group discussions and individual conversations with 104
individuals representing 53 organizations spanning the U.S. workforce
development system. The objectives of the meetings were to encourage
participants to discuss what research, information, or evidence would
be most useful to them to improve the services they provide, and to
identify future research topics related to employment programs and
services and the future of work.
In addition to this broad-based engagement, the Department convened
an 11-member panel of highly qualified experts in the workforce
development field, including representatives from workforce boards,
academics, nonprofit organizations that partner with or study the
workforce system, and labor unions. The panel provided DOL with
targeted input on high-priority research topics related to WIOA
programs and services that could build on the current evidence base,
fill key knowledge gaps, and could be potentially suitable for rigorous
evaluation. A summary of the findings from these engagements will be
available on the Department's Chief Evaluation Office website later
this year.
DOL has also sought input on our evidence-building agenda from
Congressional stakeholders. On July 29, 2021, DOL's Office of
Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs sponsored a Congressional
outreach session, which included a high-level briefing on the
Department's strategic and evidence-building planning approach.
Further, it allowed Congressional aides from both appropriations and
authorizations committees to ask questions and to provide direct
comments and reactions on the Department's activities.
Looking to the future, the Department will gain insights from
additional activities. For example, the responses to the equity RFI
issued by OMB on May 5, 2021 will be helpful to all Federal agencies,
including the Department, in evidence-building plans.\22\ Further, the
Department will engage in further targeted stakeholder feedback, to
support ongoing evidence development and dissemination activity. As
evidence building evolves to meet emerging needs, the Department
anticipates refining activities based on future stakeholder inputs. DOL
is especially interested in ensuring perspectives from a diverse array
of stakeholders who represent the communities our programs serve.
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\22\ The full text on the OMB RFI, Methods and Leading Practices
for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through
Government, can be found here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-
2021-05-05/pdf/2021-09109.pdf.
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Question. What has the Department learned from its prior
evaluations and how has the information been used in decisionmaking and
its programs, policies and operations? How will it inform future
decisions on programs, policies and operations?
Answer. The Department has learned a great deal from its
evaluations, data analytics efforts, surveys, and other rigorous
research projects to help improve our work on specific programs and
topics, and also to better understand how to best help specific
populations, especially populations facing barriers to full
participation and inclusion in the labor market. Specifically, the
Department has used the results from its evaluations and rigorous
research to expand and scale proven training strategies, to better
target enforcement and worker protection activities, to identify
underrepresented populations for tailored outreach, and even to improve
internal employee engagement, among other outcomes.
As decision-makers develop policies and programs to support workers
with job training and other employment supports, they have used the
results of evaluations to effectively target future investments. One
important example comes from evaluations of the Registered
Apprenticeships (RA) program. DOL funded a large-scale impact study of
RAs across 10 states, which was published in 2012. That study found
that RA participants had substantially higher short- and long-run
earnings than did non-participants and that the broader benefits of the
RA program for apprentices, government agencies, and society greatly
outweighed program costs. RA participants earned an average of $5,839
more than similar nonparticipants. Further, the completers of RA
programs earn over $300,000 more in salary and benefits during their
careers than similarly situated individuals who do not complete such
programs. This study is regularly cited by researchers, program
administrators, and policymakers as evidence for the return on
investment to RAs.
In part on the basis of those findings, both Congress and the
Department have pursued expansions of the RA program. In partnership
with the Department's Employment and Training Administration, the Chief
Evaluation Office is now actively evaluating these new investments in
the RA program, including studying efforts to expand apprenticeships to
underrepresented populations, as well as assessing the effectiveness of
expanding apprenticeships into high-growth and high-paying industries,
such as information technology.
Another important area of ongoing evidence-to-practice is related
to building the capacity of the nation's community colleges' education-
to-employment pipeline to meet 21st century demands. Based on the
results of a national evaluation of the DOL capacity-building grant
program, Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career
Training (TAACCCT), the Department identified a range of promising
practices for future adoption including accelerated learning/career
pathways, persistence and completion strategies, and learning-based
connections to employment. The national evaluation generated these and
a wealth of other findings based primarily on a synthesis of 71
evaluation reports completed by grantees' third-party evaluators.
Evidence-based practices and insights from these studies' findings are
being applied to the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants
(SCCTG) Round 2 Funding Opportunity Announcement and future DOL
investments.
The Department has also helped states and local areas in their
efforts to build strong evaluation capacity, such as with the
Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program.
Beyond funding and broadly disseminating findings from the largest
evaluation of the RESEA predecessor program, Reemployment and
Eligibility Assessment (REA) program, the Department has developed a
suite of resources to support states in implementing and leveraging
insights from the evidence base, as they build, pilot, and evaluate new
RESEA program components. The Department has provided evaluation
technical assistance resources, including webinars and other tools and
templates to help states understand, build, and use evidence.\23\
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\23\ The Department has developed a number of dedicated web-based
resources for states, including https://clear.dol.gov/reemployment-
services-and-eligibility-assessments-resea and https://
rc.workforcegps.org/resources/2016/10/03/06/29/RESEA.
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Other research efforts with notable impact on Departmental
operations include the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) surveys of
workers and businesses. Fielded in 1995, 2000, 2012, and 2018, these
large-scale nationally representative surveys represent a primary
source of credible information about workers' leave needs, patterns of
usage, reasons for leave, awareness of leave benefits, among many other
factors. In addition, the size of the survey sample permits
disaggregation and analysis by geography and a variety of demographic
groups. The results of these surveys have helped the Department improve
and target educational campaigns on Federal leave worker protections,
as well as to provide technical assistance to businesses with
administration of this benefit as part of compliance and enforcement
efforts. The surveys have also been very important to Federal, state,
and local policymakers interested in understanding gaps in worker leave
needs and designing potential leave program proposals.
Question. What are the Department's plans for increasing the
investment in evaluation and evidence-building activities authorized by
the annual evaluation transfer provided in the Department of Labor
Appropriations Acts which significantly decreased from more than
$22,000,000 in fiscal year 2016 to $2,000,000 in fiscal year 2020?
Answer. The Department is committed to supporting a robust research
and evaluation portfolio, including the capacity to develop and deploy
evidence across agency management activities. Doing so is consistent
with this Administration's priorities, as reflected in the President's
Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific
Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking and through the Office of
Management and Budget's guidance to Federal agencies on the
implementation of the Evidence Act (OMB M-21-27). Bolstering the
Department of Labor's research and evaluation activities is reflected
in our fiscal year 2022-2026 strategic plan, which includes a
management goal to ``strengthen the Department's commitment and
capacity for evidence-based decisionmaking.''
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Jack Reed
wioa and public libraries
Question. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Public
Libraries.--Public libraries are critical but often under-resourced
partners in the workforce development system supported under the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. As the nation continues to
recover from the COVID-19 emergency, libraries will play a critical
role in helping people access benefits and get back to work.
What are the Department's plans to build and strengthen
partnerships between the one-stop system and public libraries and
ensure that public libraries have the resources necessary to provide
these workforce development services?
Answer. States have used WIOA funding for partnerships with public
libraries to conduct digital and financial literacy education
activities; educate library staff about available in-person and virtual
employment and workforce development resources; provide resume writing,
interview preparation, and other adult education programs; use the
libraries' space to provide career assistance and host job fairs; and
share workforce and labor market information. As an example,
California's Library Workforce Partnership Initiative (LWPI) recently
announced a funding opportunity for ten California public libraries to
partner with local Workforce Development Boards to build staff skills
and knowledge about workforce development and enhance workforce
development efforts in their communities. Local Boards in California
will work with public libraries, and together they will promote
employment, career development, and skill-building for job seekers.
The Department has partnered with the Institute of Museum and
Library Services (IMLS) for several years and continues to collaborate
with libraries since the passage of the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act. This collaboration has included webinars to ensure
both libraries and the workforce development system know about the
assets and services they each have available to support jobseekers. The
Department published guidance to the workforce system reiterating the
importance of library partnerships and continues to make the workforce
system aware of the resources available in libraries to support
workforce development (See Training and Employment Notice 35-15,
``Encouraging Collaborations between the Workforce Investment System
and Public Libraries to Meet Career and Employment Needs'').
Other ongoing collaborative work with IMLS includes the Performance
Partnership Pilot (P3) authorized in 2014, in which pilot sites can
test innovative strategies to achieve significant improvements in
education, employment, and other key outcomes for disconnected youth.
P3 gives the Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services
(HHS), and Justice (DOJ), the Corporation for National and Community
Service (CNCS), and IMLS authority to waive Federal statutory and
regulatory requirements that inhibit access to assistance and effective
service delivery for disconnected youth provided certain conditions and
requirements are met.
Public libraries play an integral role and are a crucial resource
in communities for job seekers. The Department will continue working
with libraries and promoting libraries as key partners in the workforce
system.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Joe Manchin, III
black lung benefits
Question. Black lung is a terrible disease caused by inhaling coal
dust and mainly affects coal miners. After years of dedication to
providing our nation with energy, America's coal miners continue to
face the devastation of black lung disease. We are seeing more and more
cases of black lung--particularly in younger miners who have spent less
time working in the mines. Today, more than 25,000 coal miners and
their dependents rely on the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund to pay
for critical medical treatments and basic expenses. The Black Lung
Disability Trust Fund is financed primarily by an excise tax on coal
produced and sold domestically. In both 2019 and 2020, Congress passed
1 year extensions to ensure revenue streams for the Trust Fund did not
plummet. Current rates are set to expire on December 31, 2021, putting
an indebted Trust Fund in a precarious financial situation.
How can we ensure these benefits are protected and that our coal
miners continue to get the help they need?
Answer. President Biden has consistently expressed his
understanding of the harms to individuals and communities impacted by
black lung disease. He has also expressed his belief that coal mine
companies must be responsible for the occupational harms incurred by
their workers.
When the Government Accountability Office evaluated options for
improving the Trust Fund's financial condition in May 2018, it examined
different options and noted that permanently increasing the excise tax
on coal to at least $1.38 per ton for underground-mined coal and $0.69
for surface-mined coal (25 percent higher than the current rates),
could keep the Trust Fund solvent through 2050. The Administration is
committed to ensuring coal miners continue to receive their benefits in
any case, and without a legal change, the Trust Fund will continue to
borrow from Treasury in order to finance the benefits. Without
increased funding, the GAO estimated that the Trust Fund will
accumulate $15 billion of debt by 2050. That debt would be shouldered
by taxpayers instead of the responsible coal mine companies. The
Administration is eager to work with Congress to protect these critical
benefits and ensure that the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is
solvent.
silica dust rule
Question. The extraction, refining, and transportation of coal
generates significant amounts of coal dust, which contains silica.
While coal dust is hazardous to miners' health on its own, silica is
classed as a carcinogen and is substantially more dangerous. Excessive
exposure to silica has been linked to black lung, silicosis, and the
most lethal type of black lung, progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). The
U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General (OIG) produced
an audit report last year critical of the Mine Safety and Health
Administration's (MSHA) inadequate efforts to safeguard coal miners
from crystalline silica exposure. The Inspector General's report found
that MSHA needs to update its regulations to: (1) Lower the legal
exposure limit to silica, (2) Improve the ability of the agency to
issue citations and fines for excess exposure to silica, and (3)
Increase sampling protocols where were found to be too infrequent to
protect miners adequately. These findings are extremely troubling--
especially while we continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.
How far along is the agency in creating a silica dust standard for
underground coal mines?
Answer. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for MSHA's Respirable
Crystalline Silica standard is scheduled for January 2022. MSHA is in
the process of developing the proposed rule including the preamble and
supporting documentation. Under Section 101 (a) of the Federal Mine and
Safety and Health Act of 1977, the proposal must go through the notice
and comment process, which includes solicitation of comments from
stakeholders. This allows the public opportunity to submit both written
comments and to present testimony at public hearings, if requested. The
substance of the final rule would take into consideration the comments
and testimony received during the rulemaking process.
Question. When do you anticipate releasing a new rule?
Answer. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for MSHA's Respirable
Crystalline Silica standard is scheduled for January 2022.
miners and covid-19 protections
Question. In March 2021, the Mine Safety and Health Administration
issued Federal guidance for mine operators, but fell short of issuing
an enforceable standard that would apply to mines and miners. Last
month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued an
Emergency Temporary Standard for healthcare workers, which set
requirements to protect workers from contracting COVID-19 in healthcare
settings. I introduced a bipartisan bill in February, the COVID-19 Mine
Worker Protection Act, which would require you as the Secretary of
Labor to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard to requires mine
operators to protect their workers from COVID-19. This would include
development and implementation of a comprehensive infectious disease
exposure control plan, provide PPE to miners, and a framework for
documenting data. Mining is a dangerous business, we in West Virginia
know this all too well. But we should take all appropriate steps to
ensure miners are protected against COVID-19, something we know is
continuing to spread in our country.
Secretary Walsh, can you provide an update on what are you doing to
protect miners from COVID-19 exposure in and around mining sites?
Answer. On March 10, 2021, the Mine Safety and Health
Administration issued worker safety guidance to help mine operators and
mine workers implement a coronavirus protection program and better
identify risks that could lead to exposure. ``Protecting Miners: MSHA
Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19'' provides
updated guidance and recommendations, and outlines existing safety and
health standards. The guidance details key measures for limiting the
coronavirus's spread, including ensuring infected or potentially
infected miners are not in the workplace, implementing and following
physical distancing protocols and using surgical masks or cloth face
coverings. It also provides guidance on use of personal protective
equipment, improving ventilation, good hygiene and routine cleaning.
MSHA announced the guidance to more than 450 stakeholders during a
quarterly meeting and answered questions from the mining community.
Question. Will you work with me on this proposal to protect miners
from COVID-19 exposure?
Answer. We need to take all appropriate steps to ensure miners are
protected from COVID-19. The state of the pandemic is in constant flux
and MSHA will follow the science. If it becomes necessary, we will
issue an Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 for the mining
industry.
addiction and returning to work
Question. As the opioid epidemic continues to take its toll, there
are more and more men and women who face severely limited job
opportunities after serving their time for crimes committed as a result
of addiction. To help fix this problem, I reintroduced a bill called
the Clean Start Act that seeks to help former addicts with criminal
records seal those records if they complete a comprehensive addiction
treatment program and show that they have turned their lives around.
West Virginia has now enacted its own version of the Clean Start Act.
What are some of the key ways the Department of Labor can help in
getting those struggling with addiction to get back to work?
Answer. The public workforce system complements health, law
enforcement, and social service agencies to address the impact of
opioid addiction and other substance use disorders. Since 2018, the
Department has issued three grant opportunities addressing the
workforce impacts of opioid addiction and other substance use
disorders. Under these programs, grantees provide reemployment services
for individuals impacted by the crisis; train individuals to transition
into professions that can impact the crisis, such as alternative pain
management, mental health treatment, and addiction treatment; and
create temporary employment opportunities for peer recovery counselors
and other positions that have a direct impact on the crisis. States and
eligible applicants can continue to apply for National Health Emergency
(NHE) Dislocated Worker Grants (DWGs) at www.grants.gov. ETA encourages
State Workforce Agencies, local Workforce Development Boards, outlying
areas, and tribal organizations to develop comprehensive partnerships
to creatively align and deliver career, training, and supportive
services that will best serve workers impacted by substance use
disorders and opioid addiction. The services that the public workforce
system offers complement evidence-based treatment for substance use
disorders.
DWG grantees use two main approaches to strengthen enrollment and
services for individuals with substance use disorders: bringing
individuals into the American Job Center for tailored services, and
bringing American Job Center services to providers of behavioral health
services. DWG grantees have also reported that courts and justice-
related agencies are strong partners. These may include juvenile and
family courts, drug courts, as well as prison and probation offices.
The workforce system can connect individuals who have been involved in
the juvenile and/or adult justice system to Reentry Employment
Opportunities grant programs (where available) to receive services and
resources. These partnerships help to bridge the gap between recovery
services and employment and self-sufficiency.
For further information, ETA issued Training and Employment Notice
2-21, Serving Individuals and Communities Impacted by Opioid Addiction
and Other Substance Use Disorders, July 23, 2021. This is in addition
to a series of virtual programs in 2021 to train professionals in the
workforce system on serving individuals impacted by substance use
disorder.
Question. What programs and initiatives, in your experience, will
be most effective in assisting former offenders rejoin the workforce?
Answer. The Department's Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO)
program, which includes current reentry grants Reentry Projects,
Pathway Home, and Young Adult Reentry Partnerships, align with
evidence-based practices that result in people involved in the justice
system getting employment. Our grant programs include flexibility to
support the individualized needs of participants. Supportive services
such as transportation, housing, mental health and substance abuse
counseling, and assistance with gaining identification necessary for
employment are crucial to initial and long-term stable employment for
this population. Without these basic supports, it is hard for
participants to succeed in training that leads to better employment
outcomes. People connected to the justice system also need mentors,
especially mentors with similar lived experiences, who can support them
through the transition from incarceration to reenter the community. The
use of Work Opportunity Tax Credits and the Federal Bonding Program can
also increase employers' hiring of previously incarcerated individuals.
Moreover, connecting participants to work that is legally available
to them after release is imperative. Sometimes local or state licensure
laws present barriers to employment. The Department is currently
developing a tool that will help individuals re-entering their
communities learn how license/certification laws align with their
employment goals. The tool will be available on https://
www.careeronestop.org/.
The Department has used existing evidence to support current
initiatives, building off the Linking Employment Activities Pre-Release
(LEAP) implementation study to develop the 2020 and 2021 Pathway Home
grants. The LEAP pilots provided pre-release services through jail-
based American Job Centers and linked participants to post-release
services. The study documented effective approaches to serving
individuals in jails. The Pathway Home grants further test the
identified concepts and link participants in jails and prisons to the
workforce system while still incarcerated. Additionally, the
participants maintain the same case manager pre- and post-release for
seamless reentry into the community. Federal Bonding is also an
important tool to help justice-involved individuals overcome existing
prejudice and stigma that may prevent potential employers from hiring
them due to perceived risks.
The Reentry Projects and Pathway Home initiatives are currently
being rigorously evaluated, which will further support the evidence
base for connecting people involved with the justice system to gainful
employment. Learnings from these projects will inform future grant
models for continuous improvement and refinement of reentry employment
projects.
unemployment insurance and returning to work
Question. Mr. Secretary, it's no question that the COVID-19
pandemic has had a tremendous impact on our country since the start of
2020. Among many actions that were taken to respond to its effects, I
was proud to work with my colleagues here in Congress to provide
Americans with unprecedented relief in the form of unemployment
insurance benefit programs, which has been a needed source of income
for many West Virginians and Americans during these trying times.
However, we are noticing that in some states and localities, despite
our economy steadily returning to full, pre-pandemic capacity,
unemployment rates still remain high. This trend is, of course,
concerning, especially given the fact that the U.S. economy is adding
jobs at rates seen before the COVID-19 pandemic set in. My
understanding is that this combination of still elevated unemployment
and elevated job growth has led many states, including my state of West
Virginia, to end the pandemic unemployment assistance program before
its expiration on September 4, 2021. Like many of my colleagues, I want
to ensure that folks in my state and our country can return to work and
can do so safely. I remain willing to work with anyone and through any
means to do so.
Do you believe that the enhanced unemployment insurance programs
Congress has implemented have contributed to the inability of some
employers to fill employment vacancies?
Answer. I am not aware of evidence that enhanced unemployment
insurance programs have contributed to the inability of some employers
to fill employment vacancies. The President has said: ``I think people
who claim Americans won't work, even if they find a good and fair
opportunity, underestimate the American people. So we'll insist that
the law is followed with respect to benefits. But we're not going to
turn our backs on our fellow Americans.'' And I agree.
Question. What can we do in Congress to support the economy and our
returning workforce as we return to pre-pandemic output levels and
activity?
Answer. The COVID-19 pandemic created widespread economic
disruption and further highlighted pre-existing deficiencies in the
availability of opportunities for all Americans to find good-paying,
safe employment. While existing WIOA funding amounts to states are set
by a statutory formula, the fiscal year 2022 Budget reflects the
Department's continued commitment to help American workers and job
seekers, particularly those from disadvantaged communities, get back on
their feet, access job training, and find pathways to high-quality jobs
that can support a middle-class life. The fiscal year 2022 Budget
requests $3.7 billion for WIOA programs, a $203 million increase over
the fiscal year 2021 funding. The Budget includes increases of
approximately $37 million for the Adult Program, $94 million for the
Dislocated Worker Formula Program, $100 million for Dislocated Worker
Grants (DWG), and $43 million for the Youth Program. This request will
make employment services and training available to more dislocated
workers, low-income adults, and disadvantaged youth who have been hurt
by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fiscal year 2022 Budget also includes the American Jobs Plan,
an investment that will create millions of high-quality jobs and
rebuild our country's infrastructure. This includes investments in
American workers--providing people with the skills they need to
succeed, strengthening the pathways to success, and ensuring that the
jobs that are created are high quality. Structural racism and
persistent economic inequities have undermined opportunity for millions
of workers, and these investments will prioritize underserved
communities and communities negatively impacted by the transforming
economy. The United States currently spends just one-fifth of the
average that other advanced economies spend on workforce and labor
market programs.
The Department included legislative proposals to implement the
American Jobs Plan, totaling $81.5 billion over 10 years, to address
these multiple challenges. This investment in proven workforce
development models includes:
--Creating and expanding sector-based training programs;
--Providing comprehensive support for dislocated workers to enable
their participation in high-quality training programs;
--Expanding Registered Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship
opportunities;
--Building community colleges' capacity to deliver high-quality job
training programs;
--Expanding access to evidence-based intensive, staff-assisted career
services;
--Providing subsidized jobs to workers with barriers to employment;
--Expanding workforce development services for justice-involved
individuals; and
--Phasing out the subminimum wage provided to workers with
disabilities while expanding their access to competitive,
integrated employment opportunities.
The Administration also has requested $100 million in the next
fiscal year to enable states to overcome the loss of legacy industries
or persistent employment challenges and work towards a clean energy
economy, helping to ensure steady employment opportunities into the
future.
Question. Are there any lessons to be learned with how our
unemployment systems have responded over the last year to better
prepare them if faced with another economic crisis in the future?
Answer. The Unemployment Insurance system has served as a critical
lifeline over the last year, helping nearly 53 million workers stay
afloat during the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis infusing
over $800 billion into the economy--staving off an even deeper
recession. At the same time, this crisis only further exposed
longstanding challenges in the UI program. While states mobilized
quickly to implement new crucial pandemic unemployment programs, they
were hamstrung by outdated technology and a lack of resources that made
them vulnerable to fraud from international crime rings. State
administrative funding was at a historic low. Recent policy changes in
state law are designed to make it more difficult to access UI. These
challenges made it difficult for states to quickly and equitably
deliver benefits to unemployed workers. Even as economic conditions
continue to improve, states face significant backlogs that have delayed
benefits to workers, and they have struggled to address fraud
perpetrated by sophisticated crime rings that persist in using new
techniques to attack UI systems.
The Department welcomes the $2 billion that Congress provided in
the American Rescue Plan Act and agrees that UI technology and
infrastructure modernization are urgently needed. State systems must
operate on a high-quality technology infrastructure that enables them
to administer their UI programs equitably and efficiently, so all
eligible unemployed workers have timely and meaningful access to this
vital benefit. The Administration is fully engaged in developing
detailed plans to achieve the goals and purposes set in the American
Rescue Plan Act and will keep Congress informed of those plans and
progress on the implementation of this important project.
The Department has engaged with states on this topic. The
Department conducted an initial webinar with state UI agencies on June
22, 2021, to share some of the current plans and approach on pursuing
UI information technology modernization. The webinar also solicited
states for engagement and partnership in these activities. Since then,
seven states have begun working with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
and the U.S. Digital Service in research partnerships designed to help
fill in research gaps and provide input on the current and future
stages of UI modernization. Also, there have been follow-up virtual
office hours offered to states for further conversations on this topic.
All states should benefit from the funding provided in the American
Rescue Plan Act. As a state modernizes its IT system, there may be
opportunities to take advantage of the central, modular, open
technology solutions developed through this DOL/state partnership. DOL
is also deploying teams of experts, initially to six states, on a
voluntary basis to help identify process improvements that can speed
benefit delivery, address equity, and fight fraud (i.e., Tiger Teams).
The Tiger Teams can provide support, including funding, as states like
West Virginia look at business processes through a fraud-fighting and
equity lens in the course of modernization. Additionally, DOL is making
grants to states available to promote equity and fight fraud. These
grants will be designed to help states improve worker access to the UI
system, while helping states make system improvements that will
safeguard them against fraud.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Roy Blunt
apprenticeships and nontraditional industries
Question. As Chairman of the Subcommittee in fiscal year 2016, I
began funding for the Apprenticeship program. I note that while the
Administration is requesting an increase of $100 million for the
program, the Department is no longer pursuing Industry Recognized
Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs)--which would allow third-party entities
to apply for awards without being registered by the Department of
Labor. The previous Administration argued that IRAPs are intended to
supplement the current system, not replace or weaken it. IRAPs would
also allow non-traditional apprenticeship programs to thrive alongside
of the more traditional apprenticeships.
During a period when our nation is recovering from the
unprecedented strain of COVID-19 on our workforce, it is paramount that
we provide the most opportunities to get our country back to work.
How will you work with non-traditional industries to bring them
into the Apprenticeship program?
Answer. The Department supports industry-driven and employer-led
innovation in the Registered Apprenticeship System, a key strategy to
increase the representation of non-traditional industries in Registered
Apprenticeship. In fact, expanding Registered Apprenticeship into non-
traditional industries has been a Departmental priority for the past 10
years, and we've seen incredible growth due to numerous investments and
promotional activities. Since 2015, the number of Registered
Apprenticeships in non-traditional industries (non-construction) has
grown by over 43 percent.\24\
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\24\ https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/apprenticeship/about/
statistics/2020.
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Industry designs and operates Registered Apprenticeship programs.
The Department works in partnership with industry to provide technical
assistance to support and ensure programs meet minimum quality
standards for apprentice safety, welfare, and equal opportunity. This
approach ensures that Registered Apprenticeship programs are employer-
led, industry-driven, of high quality, responsive to the changing needs
of employers, and capable of producing highly skilled workers that can
compete in a highly-competitive global economy.
Over the past 6 years, the Department has made significant
investments to support apprenticeship and work-based learning in non-
traditional industries. Investments include recent awards to support
state-led expansion, equity and innovation grants, innovative
approaches to developing consistent standards in non-traditional
occupations through competency-based occupational frameworks, as well
as the establishment of new Registered Apprenticeship (RA) Technical
Assistance (TA) Centers of Excellence. This includes a dedicated RA TA
Center to support the development of Registered Apprenticeship Program
frameworks (competency-based, hybrid, and other innovative models),
national standards including those that include industry-recognized
credentials, and supporting industry in meeting Registered
Apprenticeship Program design and development requirements in
compliance with 29 C.F.R. Part 29, Subpart A.
The Department has also supported employer-led innovation in
Registered Apprenticeship through the following mechanisms:
--Industry Intermediaries: Since 2016, DOL has funded industry
associations, also referred to as ``industry intermediaries''
to develop National Apprenticeship Programs to meet critical
industry needs and lead the expansion of Registered
Apprenticeship across a wide range of industries. The most
recent round of industry intermediary awards included a focus
on expanding registered apprenticeship into non-traditional
industries.
--Growth of National Programs: To better support national employers
and industry-led efforts, the Department has enabled
significant growth in the number of organizations that have
registered as National Apprenticeship Programs. This growth has
nearly doubled over the past several years. Between January
2019 and May 2021, the Department registered approximately 70
National Apprenticeship Programs. These National Apprenticeship
Programs allow employers to quickly and easily adopt industry
vetted and Departmental-approved Registered Apprenticeship
programs into their organization through a simple employer
acceptance agreement, reducing paperwork and program
duplication.
Question. What resources are needed to ensure that all
opportunities for apprenticeships are considered at the Department?
Answer. Dedicated resources for Registered Apprenticeship are
critical to expand the program. I urge Congress to enact the
President's Budget and the American Jobs Plan. Within the fiscal year
2022 President's Budget, the Administration proposes increasing
apprenticeship funding by $100 million, for a total of $285 million.
The Department will prioritize investments that expand the
apprenticeship model to new sectors and occupations and increase access
for historically underrepresented groups, including people of color,
women, individuals with disabilities, and justice-involved individuals.
The American Jobs Plan provides another opportunity for Congress to
ensure support for apprenticeship. The Administration proposes
investing $10 billion over 10 years to create between one and two
million new Registered Apprenticeship slots.
green jobs
Question. The budget request includes an increase of $100 million
within the Dislocated Worker National Reserve for a new initiative that
will target investments for training and employment opportunities in
communities for new industries, including those supporting ''green
jobs''.
Additionally, the budget request includes an increase of $20
million for a new competitive grant program to prepare eligible
veterans, transitioning service members, and their spouses for careers
in ``green jobs.'' This new competitive grant program is proposed to be
housed within Training and Employment Services, as opposed to within
the Veterans' Employment and Training Service program.
I'm concerned with the notion that the Federal Government is
dictating the future of our workforce by tying training dollars to
``green jobs.'' Specifically, the new Power initiative will impose
significant restrictions on local economies to focus only on green
jobs, and not necessarily jobs their local economy may need. The
Department already spends millions of dollars to train workers for jobs
that are needed in local communities because of the partnership with
state and local workforce boards. Therefore, why is the Federal
Government simultaneously determining what industries can prosper in
local economies through this new initiative?
Answer. The $100,000,000 requested is part of a new Interagency
Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic
Revitalization. The Working Group is not an attempt by the Federal
Government to determine which industries can prosper. Rather, it is an
initiative that will complement other targeted Federal investments to
assist workers and transform local economies in communities
transitioning into new, sustainable industries, including those
supporting new or sustainable energy sources. This targeted program
will help energy industry workers who have been adversely impacted by
changes in the economy prepare for jobs in demand in states and local
communities that choose to apply. The initiative will build on the
success of the original POWER initiative and expand beyond the coal
industry. It will address changes in the energy economy, and other
legacy industries, through strategic planning, partnership development,
and reskilling and reemployment activities aligned with longer-term
economic transformation efforts. It will support community-led
workforce transition, layoff aversion, job creation, and other
strategic initiatives designed to ensure economic prosperity for
workers and job seekers in the coal, oil, gas, and other industries in
decline.
Question. I'm encouraged to see an increase for veterans' programs
in the budget request. Many service members leave the military with
significant training that can translate to the civilian workforce, and
it should be a priority to ensure that our veterans have the resources
necessary to transition to civilian life. Our workforce system should
be flexible to allow these workers to succeed. However, I'm concerned
about the proposal for a new, $20 million program to train our nation's
heroes for ``clean energy'' jobs, only. I do not think we should tie
our training dollars to specific jobs, especially jobs for our
veterans, nor should the Federal Government be in the position to pick
winners and losers in the economy. Why does the Department think that
it can better dictate workforce opportunities for our transitioning
service men and women, as opposed to our local economies and the local
job creators that truly understand the workforce needs of our
communities?
Answer. The Veterans' Clean Energy Training Program will be a new
competitive grant program to prepare eligible veterans, Transitioning
Service Members (TSMs), and their spouses for careers in the clean
energy sectors of the energy industry. This program does not dictate
workforce opportunities but, instead, allows states and local
communities, based on their local workforce needs and in partnership
with local businesses, to help veterans prepare for jobs that are in
demand. Clean energy job opportunities are expected to grow between now
and 2029. Certain occupations are expected to grow rapidly in the next
several years or have large numbers of job openings. A skilled
workforce is foundational to achieving the President's goal of having
100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035 while creating a more
resilient energy grid, lowering energy bills for middle-class
Americans, and improving air quality and public health outcomes. The
Department's Employment and Training Administration will develop and
implement the program collaboratively with the Department's Veterans'
Employment and Training Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs
to identify appropriate state, Federal, and industry partners to
deliver the education, training, and job placement of program
participants.
Grantees will use effective outreach, media, and engagement to
recruit a diverse cohort of participants for job training. Grantees
will use robust, comprehensive work-based learning strategies, such as
On-the-Job Training, customized training, Incumbent Worker Training,
Registered Apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship programs that matriculate
to Registered Apprenticeship programs and paid work and internships.
Other allowable approaches will include classroom, including
competency-based, and technology-based training strategies, culminating
in the attainment of an appropriate industry-recognized certificate or
credential.
Grantees will also provide technical assistance to this network of
employers to successfully employ and retain veterans, TSMs, and
military spouses. In addition, grantees will provide participants with
supportive services, such as transportation and childcare, to enable
them to participate in activities authorized under the program.
The program will engage a wide array of employers, large and small,
including Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and Service Disabled Veteran
Owned Small Businesses in the adoption and deployment of training and
work-based learning. These will be public-private partnerships engaging
employers across clean energy sectors, which will help empower local
communities and ensure that we are training workers for occupations
that are in demand.
The program will develop new or expand existing successful industry
sector partnerships and build off of lessons learned from the
Department of Energy's Solar Ready Vets program. These partnerships of
multiple employers, educational institutions, economic development
agencies, workforce development entities, and community-based
organizations will identify and collaboratively meet the workforce
needs of the growing clean energy sector within a given labor market,
incorporating career pathway strategies by aligning education and
training programs with industry needs.
joint employer rule
Question. In June 2021, DOL sent its proposed rescission of the
previous Administration's Joint Employer rule to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs for final rule. I am concerned that
the Department is moving to rescind the previous Administration's Joint
Employer rule and potentially issue another new rule. This
Administration's steps will further burden small and local businesses,
who are the economic drivers of our economy. As our nation recovers
from COVID-19, we need to be encouraging job growth and job creation,
not stifling it with further regulations and complicated, ambiguous
standards.
What are the Department's substantive plans and timeframe with
respect to this rulemaking?
Answer. The Department issued a final rule rescinding the previous
Administration's Joint Employer rule on July 30, 2021. The rescission
will be effective October 5, 2021.
covid-19 emergency temporary standard
Question. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
published an emergency temporary standard (ETS) relating to COVID-19
protections in the workplace. The requirements of the ETS apply to
``all settings where any employee provides healthcare services or
healthcare support services.'' I am concerned that there's ambiguity
regarding who and what are exempt from the emergency rule. While retail
pharmacies have a blanket exemption, walk-in medical clinics, doctor's
offices, dental practices, and other ``non-hospital ambulatory care
settings'' may qualify for exemptions depending on their screening
policies and the type of care performed. To qualify for an exemption,
the employer must limit the number of entrances to a facility and have
a screening process where people are checked at the entrance or outside
of the facility. ``Screening'' is defined as ``asking questions to
determine whether a person is COVID-19 positive or has symptoms of
COVID-19.'' Testing is optional.
Workplaces and employers that are not exempt from this emergency
rule must develop and implement a COVID-19 plan; provide and ensure the
wear of facemasks for employees; provide respirators and other Personal
Protective Equipment to employees; ensure social distancing when
possible; install physical barriers where social distancing cannot take
place; and clean and disinfect all workplace areas in accordance with
CDC guidelines.
While I appreciate that hospitals and nursing homes must comply
with the provisions of this emergency temporary standard, as those are
the settings in which there's an increased risk of coming into contact
with an infected person, I am worried that there's too much ambiguity
as to who and what are exempt outside of those facilities. Further, the
provisions of this emergency standard place a burden on the employer,
and I'm concerned that certain workplaces that could be exempt from
these provisions may not realize it. Can you detail what settings are
exempt from this standard, and will these settings be subject to an
OSHA inspection?
Answer. The COVID-19 ETS applies to employers in settings where any
employee provides healthcare services or healthcare support services.
This includes: Employees in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted
living facilities; emergency responders; home healthcare workers; and
employees in ambulatory care facilities. The focus of the ETS is on
protecting healthcare workers in settings where suspected or confirmed
COVID-19 patients are treated. Thus, the standard targets healthcare
settings where OSHA has found the elevated risk associated with care of
persons with confirmed and suspected COVID-19, and associated
activities, constitute a grave danger. Accordingly, it exempts out
settings where this elevated risk does not exist.
Paragraph (a)(2) of the standard serves to limit the applicability
of the ETS and provides that the ETS does not apply to the following:
(i) The provision of first aid by an employee who is not a licensed
healthcare provider; (ii) the dispensing of prescriptions by
pharmacists in retail settings; (iii) non-hospital ambulatory care
settings where all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people
with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter those
settings; (iv) well-defined hospital ambulatory care settings where all
employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees are screened prior
to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not
permitted to enter those settings; (v) home healthcare settings where
all employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees are screened
prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not
present; (vi) healthcare support services not performed in a healthcare
setting (e.g., off-site laundry, off-site medical billing); or (vii)
telehealth services performed outside of a setting where direct patient
care occurs.
The agency has developed numerous compliance assistance materials
to help employers understand and apply the ETS to their workplace.
These materials can be found at the OSHA website.\25\ In particular,
the agency has developed a flow chart to help employers determine
whether and how their workplace is covered by the COVID-19 Healthcare
ETS. The flow chart is available on the website.\26\ The agency has
also provided responses to many Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs),
several of which address scope issues.\27\
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\25\ https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/ets.
\26\ https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/
OSHA4125.pdf.
\27\ https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/ets/faqs.
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Employers that are covered by the ETS can consult the Inspection
Procedures for the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard \28\
compliance directive for information about inspection procedures and
enforcement policies for the ETS. It should be noted that upon opening
a COVID-19 related inspection where the ETS could potentially apply,
the agency's enforcement personnel are specifically directed to
determine if any of the exemptions outlined in sections 29 CFR
Sec. 1910.502(a) apply to the whole facility or to well-defined
portions to ensure that the ETS is not inappropriately applied to an
employer who may be exempt.
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\28\ https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/
directives/DIR_2021-02_CPL_02.pdf.
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Employers not covered by the ETS can consult the Updated Interim
Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) \29\
for more information about how OSHA is handling COVID-19-related
complaints, referrals, and severe illness reports in these workplaces.
All employers can also consult the Revised National Emphasis Program--
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) \30\ for more information about how
OSHA is targeting specific high-hazard industries or activities where
COVID-19 hazards are present in its enforcement activities.
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\29\ https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2021-
07-07.
\30\ https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/
directives/DIR_2021-03_CPL_03.pdf.
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restoration of dol staffing
Question. The fiscal year 2022 budget request includes an increase
of $1.7 billion over the fiscal year 2021 level for the Department.
Included in that increase is an increase of an additional 1,949 full-
time equivalents (FTE) for the Department, increasing total FTE levels
from 14,906 to 16,855. The vast majority of the increases are within
Worker Protection components, which will ultimately increase the number
of enforcement actions against businesses.
The budget includes an additional 1,949 full-time equivalents for
the Department. 362 of those are for OSHA alone, increasing the number
of employees by over 13 percent. Most of those personnel won't focus on
training individuals to renter the workforce, which is arguably the
most important part of the Department's mission, especially as we
recover from the unprecedented strain on our economy from COVID-19. Why
is the Department not prioritizing training programs over increasing
Federal bureaucracy?
Answer. In addition to a much-needed restoration of staffing levels
in Worker Protection activities, the fiscal year 2022 Budget renews
DOL's commitment to help American workers and job seekers, particularly
those from disadvantaged communities, get back on their feet, access
job training, and find pathways to high-quality jobs that can support a
middle-class life. Significant investments in training include:
--Apprenticeship: The Budget requests $285 million, a $100 million
increase above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level, to expand
Registered Apprenticeship (RA) opportunities while increasing
access for historically underrepresented groups, including
people of color and women, and diversifying the industry
sectors involved.
--Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Grants: The fiscal
year 2022 Budget also requests $3.7 billion, a $203 million
increase over the fiscal year 2021 enacted level, for Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act State Grants. This request will
make employment services and training available to more
dislocated workers, low-income adults, and disadvantaged youth
hurt by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
--Training displaced coal workers: The Budget requests a $100 million
investment for DOL's role in the new multi-agency POWER+
Initiative, aimed at reskilling and reemploying displaced coal
workers in Appalachian communities. This request would
complement other targeted Federal investments in POWER+ to
assist workers and transform local economies in communities
transitioning away from fossil fuel production.
--Veterans: The VETS Budget prepares America's veterans, service
members, and their spouses for meaningful careers, provides
them with employment resources and expertise, protects their
employment rights, and promotes their employment opportunities.
The Budget provides funding for the Veterans' Employment and
Training Service's (VETS) core programs, which help improve
skills and provide employment opportunities for veterans across
the country. The request also provides the Employment and
Training Administration (ETA) $20 million for a new program,
developed in collaboration with VETS and the Department of
Veterans Affairs, focused on helping veterans shift to careers
in clean energy, which would help combat climate change while
preparing veterans for good-paying jobs.
cares act and american rescue plan spending
Question. The Department of Labor received $385 million in
discretionary and mandatory supplemental funds through the CARES Act
that was passed in March 2020 and more than $2.2 billion in mandatory
funds through the American Rescue Plan (reconciliation bill) that was
passed in March 2021.
As of June 30th, a little more than $270 million has been obligated
and only $91 million has been drawn-down from the $385 million provided
in CARES. Further, of the $2.2 billion provided in the American Rescue
Plan, less than $25 million has been obligated and only $5.6 million
has been drawn-down. What is the delay in spending this funding and how
long will it take you to expend these dollars?
Answer. The CARES Act appropriated to the Department with $345.0
million for National Dislocated Worker Grants (DWGs) and $15.0 million
for the Departmental Management account to prevent, prepare for, and
respond to coronavirus, including enforcing worker protection laws and
regulations. In addition, the CARES Act appropriated $25.0 million to
the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for oversight of the unemployment
provisions enacted in the CARES Act.
The Department issued guidance to States explaining how to apply
for Disaster Recovery DWGs and Economic Recovery DWGs. The Department
accepts applications on a rolling basis. Based on the anticipated large
volume of funding requests across the nation, the Department approved
reduced initial funding amounts to address the critical community needs
in areas hardest impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency. The
amount initially provided was 33 percent of the grant amount requested
or a set initial award amount correlated to a severity rating. The
Department typically funds DWG awards on an incremental basis, although
on rare occasions, it may award funds in full or in larger-than-typical
increments, depending on factors such as the severity of the disaster
and the viability of a proposed project.
The Department has awarded nearly $398 million in Disaster Recovery
and Economic Recovery DWGs related to COVID-19. Of this total,
approximately $143 million was obligated from the Program Year 2019
appropriation; the remainder was obligated from the supplemental funds
appropriated under the CARES Act. ETA determines the amount to award
for subsequent funding opportunities on a recipient's justification for
the additional funds and continued demonstrated need, as evidenced by
productive performance, enrollments and expenditures. ETA has
traditionally considered requests for subsequent funding opportunities
when expenditures have reached approximately 70 percent of the total
DWG funds awarded to date. ETA works closely with states in determining
their needs and identifying when additional resources may be warranted.
Of the $15.0 million appropriated to the Departmental Management
account, $1.0 million was transferred to OIG, as required. OIG's funds
are available without fiscal year limitation. The remaining $14.0
million was allocated between the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration ($5.5 million); the Employment and Training
Administration's Program Administration account ($4.0 million); the
Wage and Hour Division ($2.5 million); the Employee Benefits Security
Administration ($1.0 million); and the Office of the Solicitor ($1.0
million). These funds are available for obligation until September 30,
2022.
As of July 31, 2021, the Department has obligated approximately
$11.0 million and $9.9 million has been expended. The Department will
obligate the remaining $4.0 million over the remainder of fiscal year
2021 and fiscal year 2022 and expend the funds shortly thereafter.
Of OIG's $25.0 million CARES Act appropriation, as of July 31,
2021, OIG has obligated approximately $9.5 million and expended
approximately $5.1 million. These funds are available for obligation
until expended. The OIG indicated that it has allocated its CARES Act
appropriation to support audits and investigations related to the
expansion of the UI program during the pandemic, to include the hiring
of more than 50 criminal investigators to combat unprecedented levels
of fraud in the program. The OIG's funding will cover activities,
salaries, and benefits through the end of fiscal year 2022.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) appropriated $2.0 billion to
detect and prevent fraud, promote equitable access, and ensure the
timely payment of benefits with respect to the unemployment
compensation program, $8.0 million to carry out Federal activities
related to the administration of unemployment compensation programs,
and $200.0 million to carry out COVID-19 related worker protection
activities.
The unemployment insurance (UI) system provided a critical lifeline
for millions of workers during the pandemic. The pandemic also exposed
longstanding challenges in the UI system. The funds appropriated under
ARPA are critical to helping states address the most acute challenges
they have faced this past year. The Department will be using the funds
to tackle these acute problems facing the system in the short-term
while also working to address long-term challenges. The Department is
currently focusing on four key areas: sending multidisciplinary teams
to states to provide intensive technical assistance; a comprehensive
approach to implementing identify verification; modernizing technology;
and directing grants to states to help solve some of these challenges
immediately. Regarding the worker protection funding, the Department
has set up a website \31\ that outlines the planned use of funds for
the worker protection activities and a quarterly status of obligations.
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\31\ https://www.dol.gov/general/american-rescue-plan/worker-
protection-supplemental-appropriation.
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unemployment insurance and consumer finance applications
Question. In your testimony, you stated that you have two key goals
for unemployment insurance: decreasing fraud and increasing access to
benefits. You mentioned that the Department will have a four-pronged
approach to bolstering unemployment insurance, including modernizing
technology.
What are your thoughts on utilizing consumer finance applications
to assist states in modernizing their unemployment insurance systems
and preventing fraud?
Answer. The pandemic has only underscored states' desperate need
for technological support and improvements. Many state systems are
operating on outdated technology, which made it difficult for them to
rapidly respond to changes in law and economic conditions. Part of our
plan for the $2 billion appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act
is to address this problem by centrally developing open, modular
technology solutions that states may adopt as part of ongoing
modernization and improvement efforts. Shared IT solutions will be
designed to integrate with state systems and will focus on the needs
that are shared across states, while supporting states to implement and
continue operating state specific elements. DOL's vision is to provide
software to support end-to-end administration of UI, including benefit
delivery, employer tools, and appeals. As part of this effort, DOL will
consider all possible IT solutions that will assist states in
modernizing their systems and preventing fraud, including consumer
finance applications. DOL will work with the IT staff in the States to
develop and execute a plan that builds resilience in the UI systems
across the country.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Shelley Moore Capito
funding for west virginia grantees
Question. The Employment and Training Administration, an agency
within your Department, is the leading agency responsible for providing
job training and workforce development. My home state of West Virginia
has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the nation, and yet we
receive a minimal amount of ETA grant funding to retrain workers in
emerging industries as we unfortunately shift away from a coal-
dominated economy.
Why is it that we are missing out on this funding and how will you
ensure that states like West Virginia, which have a clear need for
investment in our workforce development, are adequately supported?
Answer. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) provides
grant awards to eligible entities to carry out a public purpose for the
direct benefit or use of the United States Government. Many of these
programs are funded through formula grants whereby the law specifies or
allows ETA to determine the formula to distribute funding to the
recipients. These grants include funding under Title I of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Unemployment Insurance
Administrative Awards, Foreign Labor, Employment Service, and Trade
Adjustment Assistance grants to states and territories. The allocation
formula and funding allotments for these programs are published in ETA
guidance and are made available publicly.\32\
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\32\ https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/all_advisories.cfm.
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In addition to formula-funded programs, some legislation provides
discretionary funding for the Department to improve operations,
performance, or knowledge. These competitive grants are typically
awarded to eligible entities to create or expand innovative workforce
development programs for workers and employers. The Department develops
grant competitions and formally issues Funding Opportunity
Announcements (FOAs) that convey the application requirements and
evaluation considerations. These FOAs are published on the Grants.gov
website and provide prospective applicants with the framework for
preparing a grant application. The Department will often host a webinar
or other event to discuss new FOAs for prospective applicants during
the open period. A Technical Review Panel, composed of Federal staff
and other workforce development experts, evaluates FOA applications.
Reviewers evaluate and score applications based solely upon the
evaluation criteria in the published FOA. The ranked application scores
serve as the primary basis for the Department's selection of funding
applications.
During fiscal year 2020, ETA awarded more than $83.33 million in
grant funding to West Virginia, including $78.67 million for formula
programs and an additional $4.66 million in discretionary grants. These
awards included two grants under the Workforce Opportunities for Rural
Communities (WORC) program that enables communities within the
Appalachian and Delta regions that have been hard-hit by economic
transition, with slow recovery, to develop local and regional workforce
development solutions that align with economic development strategies.
ETA anticipates making a third round of WORC awards this Fall.
Question. On that same note, I was disappointed to learn two
YouthBuild programs weren't selected for continued funding. I'd love to
learn more about why, this program has helped so many young adults get
back on track for a career.
Answer. The Department issues the YouthBuild Funding Opportunity
Announcement (FOA) each year. This FOA is a competition open to both
previously-funded applicants and entities that never received an award.
Since this is a competitive process, not all applicants are selected
for funding. Of the 130 applications reviewed this year, due to limited
funds available, only 68 were selected. All applicants are contacted
with the results of the competition and provided guidance on how to
receive evaluative feedback related to their application. This feedback
often helps applicants submit a more competitive application in the
future.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Mike Braun
dol freedom of information act requests
Question. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), codified at 5
U.S.C. Sec. 552, provides public access to certain Federal agency
information.
Please provide the Committee with the Department of Labor's (DOL)
budget request specifically for continued administration of and
compliance with FOIA requests.
Answer. The DOL's FOIA processing is a decentralized operation such
that each of the Agency's components account for their own expected
FOIA processing costs within their individual budget requests. In the
Agency's last annual FOIA report, completed for fiscal year 2020, DOL
reported a total of 120.5 Equivalent Full-Time FOIA Employees and spent
$19,103,622 in FOIA related processing costs for the DOL's 23
decentralized FOIA components,
While DOL's President's Budget for fiscal year 2022 does not
include a specific request for the aggregate cost of FOIA processing
and administration, DOL is able to identify certain items included
within its budget request that relate specifically to FOIA processing
and administration. First, for fiscal year 2022, the DOL has projected
a cost of $1,170,000 for its Office of Information Services (OIS),
which supports the statutorily mandated functions of the Department's
Chief FOIA Officer (currently the Solicitor) in carrying out
Department-level responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act.
5 U.S.C. Sec. 552. In addition, DOL's Office of the Chief Information
Officer (OCIO) has projected fiscal year 2022 FOIAXpress System cost to
be $1,121,576, to include $891,210 for FOIA System Costs (Licensing and
Hosting), $155,366 for FOIA.
Question. Pertaining to the January 1, 2021 to July 15, 2021
timeframe, please also provide:
1. An update on the volume of FOIA requests;
2. The average time the agency took to fulfill such and the
volume of FOIA requests outstanding; and
3. How many requests the agency has utilized a statutory
exemption to deny fulfillment of a FOIA request.
Answer.
1. An update on the volume of FOIA requests
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Number of Initial FOIA Requests Received............. 7,632
Total Number of Initial FOIA Requests Processed............ 8,442
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Total Number of Initial FOIA Requests Processed'' includes requests
received prior to January 1, 2021.
2. The average time the agency took to fulfill such and the
volume of FOIA requests outstanding:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average Number of Days to Process (Simple Queue)........... 45.8
Average Number of Days to Process (Complex Queue).......... 72.2
Average Number of Days to Process (Expedited Queue)........ 79.1
Total Number of Pending Requests (outstanding) request..... 2,296
Total Number of Backlogged Requests (20 workdays or older). 1,503
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Simple Queue'' is based on low volume and/or simplicity of records
requested and ``Complex Queue'' is based on high volume and/or
complexity of records requested.
3. How many requests the agency has utilized a statutory
exemption to deny fulfillment of a FOIA request: 2
Question. Please also provide a comparison of such FOIA volume and
related fulfillment to calendar year 2020.
Answer.
1. An update on the volume of FOIA requests
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Number of Initial FOIA Requests Received............. 15,820
Total Number of Initial FOIA Requests Processed............ 15,645
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The average time the agency took to fulfill such and the
volume of FOIA requests outstanding:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average Number of Days to Process (Simple Queue)........... 39
Average Number of Days to Process (Complex Queue).......... 53.3
Average Number of Days to Process (Expedited Queue)........ 18.8
Total Number of Pending Requests (outstanding)............. 2,589
Total Number of Backlogged Requests (20 workdays or older). 1,714
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. How many requests the agency has utilized a statutory
exemption to deny fulfillment of a FOIA request: 0
payroll audit independent determination program
Question. In the Trump Administration, the Department of Labor's
Wage and Hour Division (WHD) saw both record-breaking enforcement
numbers, and record-breaking outreach efforts. Despite these incredible
outcomes for workers, the Biden Administration ended a voluntary
compliance program called PAID (Payroll Audit Independent
Determination). Will you commit to reviewing and reestablishing the
PAID program?
Answer. The Department ended the Payroll Audit Independent
Determination (PAID) program in January 2021. Between 2018 and 2021,
approximately 70 employers participated in the PAID program. The
Department continues to provide outreach and education resources for
employers. Employers may continue to contact any of our 200 Wage and
Hour Division offices to confidentially discuss their compliance
questions, or to self-report violations they would like to resolve.
teleworking
Question. How many of DOL's approximately 15,279 Full Time
Equivalent (FTE) person workforce in Washington, D.C. is currently
teleworking either (1) part-time or (2) full-time?
Answer. Based on data from the end of July 2021, 99.1 percent of
DOL and PGBC employees are teleworking either on a part-time or full-
time basis.
Question. For part-time staff, what proportion of their time is
spent teleworking, on average?
Answer. Pre-pandemic, part-time employees spent 21 percent of their
time teleworking. During the maximum telework posture, part-time
employees spent 92 percent of their time teleworking.
Question. What has such teleworking done to decrease commuting and
parking reimbursements, energy consumption, and other expenditures
compared to years prior to the pandemic?
Answer. Transit subsidy costs have decreased and these funds have
been reinvested by agencies in their program activities. There have
been some savings in energy consumption related to the reduction in on-
premises staff. To comply with safety recommendations from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention in response to the COVID-19
pandemic, however, the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system
is now run 24 hours a day to increase ventilation in the building. This
has increased energy usage overall from prior years.
secretary's calendar
Question. Previous administrations posted the calendars of their
agency head for public inspection. As of July 23, 2021, there is no
calendar information available to the public to understand your daily
efforts on the public's behalf.
Will you commit to begin sharing your calendar information with the
public on the DOL website? Can you provide a date on which your
calendar detailing the first several months of your tenure will be
published publicly?
Answer. No later than September 29, 2021, Secretary Walsh's
calendar will be available at https://www.dol.gov/general/foia/
readroom.\33\ This will include the Secretary's calendar dating back to
March 23, 2021 through July 31, 2021. Moving forward the calendars will
be updated on a monthly basis.
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\33\ https://www.dol.gov/general/foia/readroom.
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unemployment insurance and third-party income verification
Question. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) has brought
Unemployment Insurance (UI) eligibility to a significant number of
``gig'' or 1099 workers. These workers often face the greatest lag
between income loss and access to benefits.
Some have suggested using consumer finance applications (apps) to
reduce processing overhead, decrease fraud, and enable automation
resulting in streamlined access to benefits.
Do you believe that states should use available funds to modernize
UI systems and prevent fraud by creating partnerships with such
consumer finance apps?
Answer. The pandemic has only underscored states' desperate need
for technological support and improvements. Many state systems are
operating on outdated technology, which made it difficult for them to
rapidly respond to changes in law and economic conditions. Part of our
plan for the $2 billion appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act
is to address this problem by centrally developing open, modular
technology solutions that states may adopt as part of ongoing
modernization and improvement efforts. Shared IT solutions will be
designed to integrate with state systems and will focus on the needs
that are shared across states, while supporting states to implement and
continue operating state specific elements. DOL's vision is to provide
software to support end-to-end administration of UI, including benefit
delivery, employer tools, and appeals. As part of this effort, DOL will
consider all possible IT solutions that will assist states in
modernizing their systems and preventing fraud, including consumer
finance applications. DOL will work with the IT staff in the States to
develop and execute a plan that builds resilience in the UI systems
across the country.
Question. Is the Department of Labor considering issuing guidance
in regard to the ability of the states to use third-party income
verification technology to accurately verify 1099 and gig worker income
distribution?
Answer. Within the scope of the temporary Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance (PUA) program authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act, as amended, DOL has advised states
through webinars and individual technical assistance requests regarding
the use of third parties when obtaining documentation to verify 1099
income distribution for purposes of eligibility. Because the Department
has already provided information to states on using third parties to
verify income for PUA claimants and the program will end shortly, the
Department does not plan on issuing guidance on using third party
income verification technology.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Patrick J. Leahy
unemployment insurance it modernization
Question. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the cracks in the
foundation of many critical support systems across all levels of
government, including the unemployment insurance system. After 15 very
long months, Vermont is finally back to its pre-pandemic unemployment
levels of 2.6 percent. The State has reinstated its work search
requirements, and plans to allocate Federal unemployment benefits
through the summer.
In April, your Department contacted the Vermont Department of Labor
requesting that they re-process thousands of Federal unemployment
benefit claims. During this difficult and unprecedented time, the state
was trying to get money out the door to people in need as fast as they
could. I, along with the rest of the Vermont congressional delegation,
wrote you in late April about the need for flexibility when it came to
the reprocessing of unemployment insurance claims given to claimants
for the ``able and available'' eligibility criteria.
While the response from your Department recognized the strain under
which state UI programs are operating, and stated that you will
continue to provide the state with technical assistance to fulfill the
Department's request, the Vermont delegation did not receive a response
to our inquiry until last week, on July 7. I appreciate your
Department's willingness to work with the state, but this was a long-
delayed response. I hope the Department will keep me and my staff
updated on this issue, as the state is doing, and in the future, I hope
the responses to my office will be received in a timelier manner.
One issue highlighted by the pandemic is how many smaller, rural
states including Vermont lack adequate, modern unemployment insurance
technology. While trying to process thousands of new unemployment
claims, the Vermont Department of Labor, for example, had to work with
a 50-year-old computer mainframe that repeatedly froze and crashed the
system at the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. I
appreciate your Department's request for $100 million to bolster state
Department of Labor's IT systems to administer unemployment, which is
on top of the $2 billion committed in the American Rescue Plan for the
same purpose.
How will your Department work to ensure that departments of labor
with older unemployment insurance IT systems, such as Vermont's 50-
year-old mainframe, are prioritized when administering UI modernization
funding?
Answer. The Department welcomes the $2 billion that Congress
provided in the American Rescue Plan Act and agrees that UI technology
and infrastructure modernization is urgently needed. It is critical
that state systems operate on a high-quality technology infrastructure
that enables them to administer their UI programs equitably and
efficiently, so all eligible unemployed workers have timely and
meaningful access to this vital benefit. Formulating large scale
spending plans across the UI system, which is comprised of 53 different
programs operated by the states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands, requires multiple complex considerations.
The Administration is fully engaged in developing detailed plans to
achieve the goals and purposes set in the American Rescue Plan Act and
will keep Congress informed of those plans and progress on the
implementation of this important project.
The Department has engaged with states on this topic. The
Department conducted an initial webinar with state UI agencies on June
22, 2021, to share some of the current plans and approach on pursuing
UI information technology modernization. The webinar also solicited
states for engagement and partnership in these activities. Since then,
seven states have begun working with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
and the U.S. Digital Service in research partnerships designed to help
fill in research gaps and provide input on the current and future
stages of UI modernization. Also, there have been follow-up virtual
office hours offered to states for further conversations on this topic.
All states should benefit from the funding provided in the American
Rescue Plan Act. As a state modernizes its IT system, there may be
opportunities to take advantage of the central, modular, open
technology solutions developed through this DOL/state partnership. DOL
is also deploying teams of experts, initially to six states, on a
voluntary basis to help identify process improvements that can speed
benefit delivery, address equity, and fight fraud (i.e., Tiger Teams).
The Tiger Teams can provide support, including funding, as states like
Vermont look at business processes through a fraud-fighting and equity
lens in the course of modernization. Additionally, DOL is making grants
to states available to promote equity and fight fraud. These grants
will be designed to help states improve worker access to the UI system,
while helping states make system improvements that will safeguard them
against fraud.
workforce shortages
Question. Even as Vermont's unemployment rate has fallen back to
pre-pandemic levels, workforce shortages remain and no sector has been
spared. Businesses in smaller, more rural states like Vermont, have
struggled for decades to address skilled workforce shortages--whether
it is in the healthcare, education, child care, or manufacturing
industry. Your Department's budget requests $3.7 billion, a 6 percent
increase, for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Wagner
Peyser state formula grants to make employment services and training
available to dislocated workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
How will your Department work to ensure that the DOL's workforce
development help dislocated workers in rural states like Vermont that
currently lack the services available to provide workers with the
skills necessary to re-enter the post-pandemic economy?
Answer. The Department is working to ensure that all American
workers and job seekers, including those in Vermont, have access to the
services needed to make them ready for good jobs with family-sustaining
wages. The COVID-19 pandemic created widespread economic disruption and
further highlighted pre-existing deficiencies in the availability of
opportunities for all Americans to find good-paying, safe employment.
While WIOA funding allotments to states are set by a statutory formula,
the fiscal year 2022 Budget reflects the Department's continued
commitment to help American workers and job seekers, particularly those
from disadvantaged communities, get back on their feet, access job
training, and find pathways to high-quality jobs that can support a
middle-class life. The fiscal year 2022 Budget requests $3.7 billion
for WIOA programs, a $203 million increase over the fiscal year 2021
funding. The Budget includes increases of approximately $37 million for
the Adult Program, $94 million for the Dislocated Worker Formula
Program, $100 million for Dislocated Worker Grants (DWG), and $43
million for the Youth Program. This request will make employment
services and training available to more dislocated workers, low-income
adults, and disadvantaged youth who have been hurt by the economic
impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fiscal year 2022 Budget also includes the American Jobs Plan,
an investment that will create millions of high-quality jobs and
rebuild our country's infrastructure. This includes investments in
American workers--providing people with the skills they need to
succeed, strengthening the pathways to success, and ensuring that the
jobs that are created are high quality. Structural racism and
persistent economic inequities have undermined opportunity for millions
of workers, and these investments will prioritize underserved
communities and communities negatively impacted by the transforming
economy. The United States currently spends just one-fifth of the
average that other advanced economies spend on workforce and labor
market programs.
The Department included legislative proposals to implement the
American Jobs Plan, totaling $81.5 billion over 10 years, to address
these multiple challenges. This investment in proven workforce
development models includes:
--Creating and expanding sector-based training programs;
--Providing comprehensive support for dislocated workers to enable
their participation in high-quality training programs;
--Expanding Registered Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship
opportunities;
--Building community colleges' capacity to deliver high-quality job
training programs;
--Expanding access to evidence-based intensive, staff-assisted career
services;
--Providing subsidized jobs to workers with barriers to employment;
--Expanding workforce development services for justice-involved
individuals; and
--Phasing out the subminimum wage provided to workers with
disabilities while expanding their access to competitive,
integrated employment opportunities.
There are several current funding sources that may be able to
support rural communities in addressing workforce transition.
First, each state may reserve up to 15 percent of their WIOA
funding for statewide activities and an additional 25 percent of the
Dislocated Worker formula allotment for Rapid Response activities. Both
statewide and Rapid Response activities can be focused on prioritizing
business engagement activities and layoff aversion efforts. Business
engagement helps to develop long-term relationships with the business
community. It enables the public workforce system to partner with
businesses to play a more significant part in understanding their
workforce needs, both currently and in the future. Statewide resources,
or other WIOA resources, can then be used to train workers in the
specific skills these businesses need.
Second, state or local workforce areas may request additional
funding from the Department through the National Dislocated Worker
Grant (DWG) program when qualifying events occur, including large
layoffs or a number of smaller layoffs that add up to a larger impact.
DWG funds supplement the regular WIOA formula resources and allow
states to provide critical workforce services to more unemployed
workers than would otherwise be the case.
Lastly, the Department funds several other grant programs that may
benefit rural states and communities across the country. For example,
on June 28, 2021, the Department announced the Comprehensive and
Accessible Reemployment through Equitable Employment Recovery (CAREER)
DWG. CAREER DWGs are designed to fund strategies and activities to help
reemploy dislocated workers most affected by the economic and
employment fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, those
from historically marginalized communities or groups and those who have
been unemployed for an extended period or who have exhausted UI or
other Pandemic Unemployment Insurance programs.
Another example is the competitive H-1B Rural Healthcare grants. In
January 2021, the Department awarded $40 million in funding to rural
communities through partnerships of public and private entities to
address rural healthcare workforce shortages across the country. This
investment is addressing a very specific need that was exacerbated
during the pandemic. It aims to increase the number of individuals
training in healthcare occupations that directly impact patient care
and alleviate healthcare workforce shortages by creating sustainable
employment and training programs in healthcare occupations serving
rural populations.
The Administration also has requested $100 million in the next
fiscal year to enable states to overcome the loss of legacy industries
or persistent employment challenges and work towards a clean energy
economy, helping to ensure steady employment opportunities into the
future.
regional apprenticeship program
Question. A primary focus of the Department of Labor's budget
request for fiscal year 2022 is a significant increase of Federal
funding for the Registered Apprenticeship Program of $100 million,
totaling $285 million for the program, which is a 154-percent increase
from fiscal year 2021. Apprenticeship programs add to the important
workforce development role in helping people succeed in learning for
the jobs of today and tomorrow. Many states, including Vermont, must
connect jobseekers to better paying jobs that are in high-demand in
order to continue to have a healthy economy. More than 90 percent of
apprentices find employment after completing their programs, with
graduates earning an average starting salary of more than $60,000.
The fiscal year 2022 budget request highlights the need for the
Registered Apprenticeship Program to focus on expanding access to the
model for historically underrepresented groups, including women and
people of color, and in high-growth sectors where apprenticeships are
underutilized. Despite the need for innovative programs to stem the
demographic trends of aging and shrinking rural areas, small rural
states such as Vermont have struggled with meeting some of the criteria
for the Department's Apprenticeship program. Expanding the Department's
partnership with regional commissions would ensure that small rural
areas can also build long-term community capacity and increase economic
competitiveness.
What is the Department's plan for ensuring that the increased
funding request for the Registered Apprenticeship Program also benefits
people who live in small rural states where the program's criteria has
historically been a barrier to access?
Answer. The Department is acutely aware of the need for improving
conditions in rural areas and reaching underserved populations and has
previously invested in the expansion of Registered Apprenticeships in
states, including small rural states, and is committed to continuing
these efforts through future grant funding.
Previously, the Department awarded several grants supporting
efforts to address access barriers to Registered Apprenticeship
Programs in rural areas. These include Registered Apprenticeship grants
awarded to states in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020 \34\ to support
building state capacity to expand Registered Apprenticeship. The
Vermont Department of Labor was a recipient of these awards in each of
those 4 years. Since 2016, according to the Department's records the
State of Vermont has seen a nearly 70 percent increase in the number of
active apprentices in Registered Apprenticeship programs, including
over 2,600 new apprentices during this period. In addition, in January
2021, the Department awarded nearly $40 million in grants as part of
the H-1B Rural Healthcare grant program, focused on addressing
healthcare workforce shortages by creating sustainable employment and
training programs in healthcare occupations serving rural populations.
This funding opportunity allowed applicants to propose a wide range of
training models, including Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs)
to, meet the healthcare workforce needs of rural areas.
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\34\ https://www.apprenticeship.gov/investments-tax-credits-and-
tuition-support/active-grants-and-contracts.
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Most recently, the Department awarded more than $99 million to
states as part of the State Apprenticeship Expansion, Equity, and
Innovation \35\ grants to bolster states' efforts to expand programming
and inclusive recruitment strategies to attract a diverse workforce.
The awards include more than $85 million for states that demonstrated a
commitment to increasing their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
These grants also aim to develop partnerships with new industries and
non-traditional occupations, including industry sectors hardest hit by
the pandemic, and align Registered Apprenticeships with other work-
based learning opportunities within state education and workforce
systems. In addition, to ensure this funding opportunity could support
the diverse needs of small rural states, medium-sized, and large states
the funding opportunity allowed for a broad funding request range (from
$2 million up to $10 million) with performance outcome targets that
were commensurate with the amount of funding requested.
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\35\ https://www.apprenticeship.gov/investments-tax-credits-and-
tuition-support/active-grants-and-contracts.
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Further, to better facilitate the expansion of Registered
Apprenticeship, including in rural areas, the Department also awarded
nearly $31 million through cooperative agreements to establish four
Registered Apprenticeship (RA) Technical Assistance (TA) Centers of
Excellence \36\ to provide technical assistance to key apprenticeship
stakeholders. These RA TA Centers of Excellence will provide technical
assistance on a national scale focused on: (1) diversity and inclusion;
(2) strategic partnership and system alignment; (3) apprenticeship
occupations and standards; and (4) data and performance best practices.
Rural areas, as well as all states, will benefit from the technical
assistance being provided by these centers.
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\36\ https://www.apprenticeship.gov/investments-tax-credits-and-
tuition-support/active-grants-and-contracts.
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A focus of all of the Department's investments awarded in 2021 is
to fund opportunities to support innovation in Registered
Apprenticeship expansion efforts allowing states maximum flexibility
for determining where they should target resources. Such efforts may
include creating access for underrepresented populations; developing
distance learning approaches; identifying promising practices with
employer incentives that could bring employers on board, especially in
rural areas; and ensuring industries or occupations negatively impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic are supported.
In fiscal year 2022, the Department will prioritize investments
that continue to expand the capacity of states to build and expand the
apprenticeship model to new sectors and occupations, increase access
for historically underrepresented groups; and address access barriers
to Registered Apprenticeship Programs in rural areas. The Department
will continue looking for additional opportunities to further these
efforts.
Question. Has the Department considered further utilizing its
partnerships with regional commissions and authorities to expand access
to vital workforce development programs such as the Regional
Apprenticeship Program? How can these partnerships best be utilized?
Answer. The Department believes partnerships that support workforce
system integration are critical to expand access to Registered
Apprenticeship Programs. This includes building partnerships with
governors, workforce agencies, workforce development boards, and
interdepartmental Federal leaders to further align registered
apprenticeship with other work-based learning opportunities within
state education and workforce systems.
As these partnerships are critical to expanding access to
Registered Apprenticeship Programs, the Department has and will
continue to fund activities that support building strategic
partnerships and system alignment. Most recently, the Department
awarded more than $99 million to states as part of the State
Apprenticeship Expansion, Equity, and Innovation \37\ (SAEEI) grants to
bolster states' efforts to expand programming and inclusive recruitment
strategies to attract a diverse workforce. Under these grants, states
must explore new and expanded opportunities with industry, employers,
education and training providers, the workforce system, state and local
governments, labor organizations, and other entities, to better
coordinate and maximize resources and assistance across Federal, state
and local funding streams, as well as from the private sector
enrollment in and access to apprenticeship opportunities that support
workforce system integration.
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\37\ https://www.apprenticeship.gov/investments-tax-credits-and-
tuition-support/active-grants-and-contracts.
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Additionally, the Department also awarded nearly $31 million
through cooperative agreements to establish four Registered
Apprenticeship (RA) Technical Assistance (TA) Centers of Excellence
\38\ to provide technical assistance to key apprenticeship
stakeholders. One of the RA TA Centers funded will support strategic
partnerships and system alignment. Specifically, this center will focus
on establishing, building, and sustaining partnerships that support
system alignment of the national workforce and education systems to
accelerate Registered Apprenticeship Program adoption and expansion.
This RA TA Center of Excellence will provide technical assistance on a
national scope to Registered Apprenticeship Program sponsors, and will
also support state and local workforce development boards, American Job
Center programs and operators, governors and other essential
stakeholders that drive and inform economic and workforce development
policies and programs.
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\38\ https://www.apprenticeship.gov/investments-tax-credits-and-
tuition-support/active-grants-and-contracts.
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The Department is constantly striving to find new and better ways
to connect with the workforce system and its partners.
SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS
Senator Murray. With that, the subcommittee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:12 a.m., Wednesday, July 14, the hearings
were concluded, and the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene
subject to the call of the Chair.]