Administration presses Congress for full EEOC funding

The Office of Management and Budget this week urged the Senate to fund the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at a level proposed in a committee version of the Commerce-Justice-State fiscal 2004 appropriations bill, rather than at a level approved by House lawmakers in July.

The Senate Appropriations Committee met President Bush's full 2004 EEOC funding request, granting the agency $335 million for the year. The administration "appreciates" this level of support, OMB said in a Nov. 10 policy statement.

The full Senate has yet to vote on the bill, which lawmakers will likely end up including in an omnibus budget measure.

In mid-July, the House passed a Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill that only allotted $328 million to the EEOC. With that budget, the agency would have trouble handling case inventories and might "have to postpone key management reforms that will allow it to serve citizens more efficiently," OMB wrote in a July policy statement.

The administration's $335 million budget request included roughly $5 million for agency reforms, including the establishment of a national center to handle inquiries about discrimination cases. Labor union officials oppose such a center, but the EEOC plans to solicit bids from contractors interested in running a help line over a two-year trial period.

Persistent budget shortfalls have forced the EEOC to consider ways of cutting costs and increasing efficiency. The agency narrowly avoided sending its entire staff on 16 to 19 days of unpaid leave in fiscal 2003.

In a February 2003 report, the National Academy of Public Administration, a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization, said the commission could save money by moving or closing some field offices, encouraging flexible work arrangements and investing in new technology. The EEOC also needs to spend less on salaries and rent, an agency official said in September.

But aside from the "small" step of soliciting bids for the pilot national service center, the EEOC has not settled on any plans for significant reform, according to an agency spokesman.