Spending Package Would Give DOL $13.8 Billion for Fiscal 2023

Congressional appropriators proposed $13.8 billion in base discretionary funding for the US Department of Labor for fiscal year 2023, and $299 million for the National Labor Relations Board, in their set of bills to keep the government running next year.

Top lawmakers in the House and Senate appropriations committees released text for the federal government’s proposed fiscal 2023 budget early Tuesday. Congress has until Friday to pass the spending package to avoid a shutdown or to pass a new continuing resolution to push the deadline to sometime next year.

• Appropriators proposed to increase the NLRB’s funding by $25 million, bumping the agency’s budget to around $299 million and falling short of the $319.4 million both the House and Senate appropriations committees proposed this summer. Unions and some Democratic lawmakers pushed for a budget boost in 2023 to avoid furloughs, and to better prepare the agency for increased petitions for unionization.
• The DOL’s Wage and Hour division would receive $260 million, while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would garner around $632 million for fiscal 2023. The House budget panel wrote higher top lines for both agencies in its June proposal.