Federal agencies need consistent funding and staffing to keep up with increasing responsibilities in a changing world. Without adequate resources, those agencies will struggle to protect the public and fulfill the promise of a positive government. OMB Watch's new series, Bankrupting Government: How a Decades-Long Campaign against Federal Spending Has Undermined Public Protections, examines how long-term resource shortfalls at federal regulatory agencies have affected the ability of those agencies to fulfill their missions.
Federal Meat Inspectors Spread Thin as Recalls Rise
Quick facts:
• From FY 1981 to FY 2007, the number of full-time employees at FSIS fell from 9,932 to 9,184 — a 7.5 percent drop.
• In FY 1981, FSIS spent $13.22 per thousand pounds of meat and poultry inspected and passed. By FY 2007, the figure had fallen to $8.26 per thousand pounds.
• FSIS's inspection force has an average national vacancy rate of at least ten percent.
Read the article here (published March 4, 2008)
Coal Mine Safety Shortchanged by Years of Budget Cuts
Quick facts:
• MSHA's budget has been cut 17 percent since its inception.
• Since its peak in 1979, the number of MSHA employees carrying out mine regulation and oversight has declined by 45 percent.
• MSHA is struggling to ensure coal mine safety as mine inspections dwindle and new protective standards are delayed.
Read the article here (published Feb. 20, 2008)
Product Safety Regulator Hobbled by Decades of Negligence
Quick facts:
• CPSC's budget has been cut almost 40 percent since its inception.
• Even though CPSC's budget increased in the late 1990s and under the watch of George W. Bush in the early 2000s, employment levels continue to drop sharply.
• While CPSC has diminished in size and capacity, the industries it regulates have grown.
Read the article here (published Feb. 5, 2008)
Workers Threatened by Decline in OSHA Budget, Enforcement Activity
Quick facts:
• OSHA's budget has been cut each year President Bush has been in office.
• OSHA staffing levels have not kept pace with the growth in the American workforce.
• Government agencies conduct fewer than half the number of workplace inspections conducted 30 years ago.
• After three decades of significant progress, declines in workplace fatality rates have stagnated in recent years.
Read the article here (published Jan. 23, 2008)
Data and Sources
Data points and sources for information cited in each article
FSIS (xls)
CPSC (xls)
OSHA (xls)