1/ Adjustments reflect advance appropriations of $2.5 billion in FY 2000 column; and proposed user fees of $138 million in FY 2001.

INTRODUCTION

The FY 2001 budget reflects the Department of Labor's (DOL's) commitment that all workers have the opportunity to find and hold jobs, under reasonable working conditions, with good wages, reliable pensions, health benefits; and have opportunities to improve their skills.

To meet this commitment, the Department's FY 2001 budget proposals provide a total of $39.7 billion in budget authority and 17,450 full-time equivalents (FTE). The request for discretionary programs is $12.4 billion in budget authority, which is $1.2 billion above the FY 2000 level.

The American economic system has created twenty million new jobs in the past seven years, and the unemployment rate is at its lowest level in 30 years. Yet today's economy has not yet reached all working Americans. This budget contains important initiatives to help assure that this prosperity is broadly shared among all sectors and age ranges of society including those residing in both urban and rural areas, where youth unemployment reaches as high as thirty percent.

HELPING WORKING FAMILIES MANAGE CHANGE

The dynamic forces of technology, globalization, and competition are changing the workplace. Large firms, which provided steady employment are now complemented by a dynamic world of small and medium-sized business startups, often in new lines of industry. Many new jobs are in these smaller firms.

This budget takes account of the dramatic changes that continue to sweep through the economy, proposing ways to help America's working families manage change and succeed in the new environment.

To maximize the overall results in meeting the challenges of a changing economy, this budget provides the resources for significant progress toward three strategic goals: to promote a prepared workforce, to promote a secure workforce, and to improve the quality of the workplace itself.

A Prepared Workforce--This budget request reflects one of the President's top priorities: investing in education and training to help ensure that every American has the schooling and the skills to succeed in the increasingly competitive global economy. The Youth Opportunity Movement program will provide investments that help young people make a successful transition to the world of work and family responsibility. Another initiative addressing this goal is the Fathers Work/Families Win initiative which will provide competitive grants to State and local Workforce Investment Boards to promote responsible fatherhood and support working families. These are some of the initiatives in this budget that focus first on youth and then target the high unemployment, low skills, and lack of work experience among youth and adults in some of our poorest communities.

Because a changing economy often requires our Nation's workers to have new skills, and related support services as the labor market changes, the budget continues the President's Universal Reemployment initiative path which aims to serve all dislocated workers in need of assistance.

A Secure Workforce--It is critical to ensure that all Americans are economically secure after they retire. Employment-based pension and health benefits are the foundation of family security.

Only about one-half of all full-time workers in the private sector have pension coverage. Three-quarters of workers in small businesses are not covered by a pension plan. Increasing access to our private pension system and assuring that private pensions, health care, and other employee benefits are secure and properly administered are priorities addressed by this budget.

Several initiatives have been designed to achieve significant progress in helping to promote an economically secure workforce. Because of the fast changing economy, to help American workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own, the Administration will seek enactment of legislation to consolidate, reform and extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment Assistance programs.

Quality Workplaces--The third goal is to help guarantee every working American a safe and healthful workplace with equal opportunity for all. Tough enforcement is necessary where an employer's practices threatens workers' safety and health, discriminates on the basis of gender, race, veterans' status, or disability, or deprives workers of fair wages. Our ultimate goal, however, is compliance with employment laws. There must be an appropriate balance of fair and consistent enforcement, cooperative partnerships, and compliance assistance and training. The Department also is committed to improving the working conditions of children at home and abroad by eliminating violations of child labor laws and by raising core international labor standards to enhance economic stability abroad.

CHALLENGES FOR TODAY'S WORKFORCE: OPPORTUNITY GAPS, GLOBALIZATION, STRENGTHENING WORKING FAMILIES

The Department's FY 2001 request proposes several program increases and innovations, all of which are focused upon addressing the challenges posed by a rapidly changing economic environment. Globalization, adapting to technological developments, reaching untapped labor markets and improving the conditions of working families are just a few of the challenges with which the American workforce must contend.

There exists today, not a worker shortage, but a skills shortage, and it is imperative that the Opportunity Gaps and Untapped Markets are identified and fully utilized. This will help to increase access for all Americans to the schooling and skills needed for success in today's competitive global economy.

The United States has for many years sought to raise international labor standards as part of an open trading program. An important step toward Putting a Human Face on Globalization was achieved when the International Labor Organization adopted, the Senate ratified and the President signed the international convention outlawing the worst forms of child labor. To take our efforts to a new level, the President is proposing an expansion of our international child labor efforts to make the convention's aspirations a reality.

In addition to addressing abusive child labor, many developing countries need assistance in formulating and implementing core labor standards and in constructing a social safety net. DOL can help in these areas as well as providing support for health education and HIV/AIDS prevention in the workplace, and the monitoring of labor issues worldwide.

Finally, as Americans, we must Live Our Values at Home, and that is why DOL will continue to strengthen its work and family programs. Stronger families and communities can be built by helping Americans balance the competing demands of work and family. A critical element of the Administration's efforts to help millions of Americans raise families and make ends meet is the President's proposed $1 increase in the minimum wage. The Department recently proposed new rules that make it possible for states to allow workers who have earned unemployment insurance coverage to collect unemployment payments while they are on leave during the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. To assist other working families, there is a need to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover ten million more Americans who work for smaller companies. Pay equity and workplace safety also are vital to the work and family effort.

Opportunity Gaps and Untapped Markets:

There are several programs included within the Youth Opportunities Movement to address the opportunity gaps and reach untapped labor markets in order to advance the goal to promote a prepared workforce.

Youth Opportunity Grants

The FY 2001 budget includes $375 million for Youth Opportunity Grants, an increase of $125 million above FY 2000. This program is intended to provide comprehensive, longer term intervention primarily in the lives of out-of-school youth living in inner cities and high poverty areas to help them graduate from high school, get jobs, and progress in the workforce. Of the total request, $250 million in competitive grants will be distributed to 25 to 30 high poverty areas for the third year of funding. An additional $125 million is requested in FY 2001 to fund the first year of 12 to 15 new grants to high poverty areas. The program will serve an estimated 85,000 in 2001.

Responsible Reintegration for Young Offenders

Also included in the FY 2001 budget is an initiative for Responsible Reintegration for Young Offenders funded at $75 million to address youth offender issues. This is a new initiative and will build on work begun earlier including $13.9 million in FY 2000 demonstration funds. This large scale Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Pilot and Demonstration initiative will link young offenders under age 35 with essential services that can help make the difference in their choices in the future, such as education, training, job placement, drug counseling, and mentoring, which are the primary tools for reintegrating this population into the mainstream economy. Through local competitive grants, this program would establish partnerships between the criminal justice system and local workforce investment systems, complementing a similar program in the Department of Justice. An estimated 19,000 youth will be served.

Safe Schools/Healthy Students

Also included in the FY 2001 budget is $40 million for DOL to participate in the next competitive round of Safe Schools/Healthy Students grants. This is an effort begun in FY 1999 in collaboration with the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice to promote healthy childhood development and to prevent school violence and alcohol and other drug abuse through a comprehensive, community-wide approach. With DOL's participation, the activities for the next round of grants can be expanded to include connections among high schools, post-secondary schools, alternative schools, out-of-school youth programs, and work-based learning programs, in order to reduce violent behaviors.

Job Corps

The Job Corps will provide intensive skill training, academic and social education, and support to an estimated 73,000 participants at 122 centers in FY 2001. The budget request is $1.4 billion, a net increase of $35 million above FY 2000. The additional amounts include increases of $13.4 million for the operations costs of new centers, and $12.9 million for teacher and other staff salary increases. These increases are offset in part, by a decline in new center construction and modernization efforts.

Universal Reemployment:

Because our changing economy often requires new skills of our Nation's workers, the budget continues the President's Universal Reemployment initiative path which aims to serve all dislocated workers in need of assistance. The initiative will provide all dislocated workers who want and need assistance the resources to train for or find new jobs; expand and improve the quality of employment services now available to all job seekers, enhance them for individuals receiving unemployment compensation; and ensure availability of the One Stop System, either in person or electronically, to help find jobs and training. Among the programs to be funded in this area are WIA Dislocated Workers employment and training activities, One Stop Career Centers, and Grants to States for Reemployment Services.

Dislocated worker employment and training activities under authority of WIA provides State formula grants, as well as a national emergency grant account, for retraining and adjustment services to laid off workers with a labor market attachment to help them return to work quickly. The FY 2001 request includes $1.771 billion for this program, an increase of $181 million above FY 2000 to support 984,000 participants. This increase is part of a build up which would assist all dislocated workers in need of these services.

The FY 2001 budget includes $154 million for new methods of providing employment and related information through One Stop Career Centers and its America's Labor Market Information System (ALMIS), an increase of $34 million above FY 2000. Services include America's Job Bank that lists about 1.5 million jobs, and America's Talent Bank that lists over 500,000 resumes.

Also included in the Universal Reemployment initiative for FY 2001 is an additional $50 million for Reemployment Services Grants. These grants, made through the employment service, will provide targeted, staff assisted services to unemployment insurance claimants identified as having a high probability of exhausting their benefits. This will speed their reentry into employment and reduce benefit duration.

The budget includes a new program of employment and training assistance to Incumbent Workers funded at $30 million in FY 2001 under a WIA Pilot and Demonstration authority. The effort is intended to address the major job losses in the manufacturing industry where one half million jobs have been lost since March, 1998. Complementing the activities carried out under the Universal Reemployment proposal, this initiative will boost skills and wages of non-management U.S. workers through competitive grants to States to train and upgrade the skills of incumbent workers and, through local partnerships, help firms with training in order to prevent displacements before they occur. It is expected that the program will serve 20,000 participants.

Fathers Work/Families Win:

Building on the investments and partnerships begun under the Welfare-to-Work program, the FY 2001 President's Budget includes $255 million for a new initiative entitled Fathers Work/Families Win to assist low-income working families, including non-custodial parents, obtain better jobs and higher wages so that they can provide the financial and emotional support their children deserve without cash assistance. Of this amount, $125 million would support competitive grants for the Fathers Work component to help about 40,000 non-custodial parents, primarily fathers, obtain or retain employment and progress up career ladders, including upgrading their skills so they can support their children. The remaining $130 million of the request is for Families Win to provide resources for case management and skill training to help about 40,000 low income parents stay in jobs, move up career ladders, and stay off cash assistance. Of these amounts, $10 million will be set aside for Indian and Native American Workforce Agencies. Additionally, current grantees will be allowed two more years to spend Welfare-to-Work funds.

Awarded through State and local Workforce Investment Boards, these competitive grants will enable States and local communities to complement welfare reform efforts by focusing on work connections, work support activities, and skills training. The initiative addresses families with incomes up to 200 percent of the poverty level.

Disability Policy And Programs:

The Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities was created in 1998 to develop and recommend to the President, a coordinated and aggressive Federal policy to eliminate employment barriers for people with disabilities. The first Task Force annual report identified and recommended support of legislation to eliminate the barriers to health care for people with disabilities. The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act signed into law in 1999, will substantially expand our nation's pool of skilled workers with disabilities by enabling millions of people with disabilities to take jobs without fear of losing their Medicaid and Medicare coverage.

In December 1999, the second annual report of the Task Force identified and recommended support for the establishment of a new Office of Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical Assistance to be headed by an Assistant Secretary within DOL. This new office will subsume the responsibilities of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (PCEPD) and work with employers to encourage the creation of training and job opportunities. ODPET will bring a heightened and permanent disability focus within DOL through policy evaluation, technical assistance and development of best practices. The intent is to integrate these tools into all existing DOL programs and services so that people with disabilities maximize their overall efforts to obtain the necessary skills and training to succeed in the increasingly competitive global economy.

In addition, the budget also continues the competitive grants enacted in FY 2000, totaling $20 million annually to be awarded each year by DOL to partnerships of organizations to provide incentives for broader systems -- building efforts involving coordinated service delivery through, and linkages across, the One Stop Career Center system established under Title 1 of WIA of 1998. This effort will promote coordination among members of such partnerships, in order to ensure that people with disabilities are better prepared to enter, reenter, and remain in the workforce.

Homeless Veterans Programs:

This request includes a plan to integrate DOL's Homeless Programs for Veterans (formerly funded within ETA) within the Veterans Employment and Training Service. The budget includes $15 million, a $5 million increase over the FY 2000 level which is expected to provide employment and training services to an estimated 15,000 homeless veterans, with expected job placements of approximately 8,700.

Economic Indicators:

This request includes increases totaling $20 million for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to improve major economic indicators. For example, BLS will increase coverage of the service sector in the Producer Price Index (PPI), and will expand coverage by incorporating data from the construction sector of the economy. The request includes $4.3 million to develop a new time-use survey that will provide nationally representative estimates of how Americans spend their time in an average week. This will provide important and meaningful data in many areas such as the amount of time invested in the care of the young and the elderly in our society, variations between single and two-parent families, and time invested in skill acquisition.

Trade Adjustment Assistance:

The budget request includes a proposal to consolidate and reform and extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment Assistance programs for workers who lose their jobs due to trade policies. This proposal would expand eligibility for TAA benefits to cover workers who lose jobs when plants or production shifts abroad (coverage which is now limited to shifts to Canada or Mexico), would raise the statutory cap on training expenses, and would otherwise harmonize the rules of the two programs and bring the trade program closer in line with the one-stop delivery system envisioned by WIA.

Pensions And Health Care:

Each year millions of Americans encounter life and work altering events - job loss, divorce, death of a spouse, or loss of dependent status - all of which may affect their health benefits. To address these events in workers' lives, the Department continues to support the Health Benefits Education Campaign that the Secretary launched in December 1998. DOL will provide funds to continue the partnership with over 70 public and private sector organizations to provide information to health benefit plan participants that will enable them to better understand the new health benefit laws and apply them to their personal circumstances. In FY 2001, funding is also proposed to implement the Rapid ERISA Action Team initiative to preserve pension assets in employer bankruptcies.

The globalization of the economy has altered the way in which the American workforce has traditionally been structured. The challenge today is Putting a Human Face on Globalization in this interdependent economy. There are several proposals that address this issue and advance the goal of fostering quality workplaces.

In the new global economy there exists the opportunity to lift billions of people into a worldwide middle class and a decent standard of living. The FY 2001 budget proposals attempt to harmonize the Administration's goals of increasing trade and improving working conditions and labor standards for all workers. Raising global labor standards and improving worldwide enforcement of labor laws is vital to this effort. Achieving expanded opportunity and security for American workers has become increasingly dependent upon how effectively the U.S. addresses the international challenges of economic globalization.

International Child Labor

An estimated 250 million children between the ages of 5 to 14 years, are working in developing countries, and millions of these children work under abusive or dangerous conditions. The Administration has accomplished two major Child Labor milestones in recent years - dramatic growth in the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labor, and ratification of ILO convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.

The FY 2001 request recommends taking these efforts to the next level by supporting educational opportunities that not only encourage the removal of children from these abusive and dangerous working environments, but that provide them with real opportunities and real hope for a better future. The request includes a total of $100 million to support international efforts to eliminate child labor through a comprehensive strategy with two inter-related components: first, the U.S. contribution to IPEC will increase by 50% (to $45 million) for multilateral assistance which will increase the number of abused children served covering more industries and in more countries; second, a new program funded at $55 million will help countries enhance access to basic education as a viable alternative to work in the elimination of child labor.

International Labor Standards

The FY 2001 budget expands upon the initiative begun in FY 2000 to provide both multilateral technical assistance through the ILO and bilateral assistance through DOL to help developing countries implement ILO Core Labor Standards. The multilateral component continues at a level of $20 million. For the bilateral programs, DOL is requesting a $10 million increase for a total of $20 million to assist countries with which the U.S. has important relationships to develop and administer labor standards and social safety net programs.

Global HIV/AIDS Workplace Initiative

The budget also includes $10 million for a new Global HIV/AIDS Workplace initiative to provide multilateral assistance to the ILO to support health education and HIV prevention in the workplace.

Labor And Environmental Monitoring

As part of a $10 million joint DOL, Environmental Protection Agency, and State Department effort, the budget includes $4.3 million for DOL to improve its ability to assess the institutional capacity of developing countries to administer labor and environmental laws as part of an effort to improve the mobilization and targeting of U.S. and international technical assistance.

Living Our Values at Home :

The modern American workplace is changing due to technological advances and the booming economy. Rigorous demands on companies and workers call for an investment in creating an environment in which our personal values are reflected at work.

Domestic Child Labor

The Department continues its commitment to reducing the more than 210,000 annual workplace injuries and fatalities to young workers in America. The budget includes $13 million for DOL domestic child labor activities, including $8 million to help eliminate domestic violations of child labor laws, particularly in the agricultural sector, and $5 million for demonstration programs to provide alternatives to field work for migrant youth. This amount includes $2.2 million for DOL to implement targeted enforcement tools, including "strike teams", in the agricultural and garment industries; and $0.5 million for enhanced education and outreach efforts as part of the "Safe Work/Safe Kids" initiative included within the Department's proposals in the FY 2001 budget that advance the Department's strategic goal of improving the quality of the workplace.

Family Leave

Today, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows covered workers to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child, attend to their own serious health needs, or care for a seriously ill parent, child, or spouse - making it less likely that employees will have to choose between work and family. The President continues to support expansion of the FMLA to reach workers in firms with 25 or more employees, extending coverage to 12 million more workers.

Many workers face barriers such as financial barriers, which prevent them from taking advantage of unpaid leave. The President's budget includes $20 million to fund competitive planning grants for States and other interested entities to explore ways to make parental leave and other forms of family leave more affordable and accessible for American workers. This initiative will help States and other entities identify in more detail, the workers in need of financial assistance to take parental/family leave and to develop and evaluate options to aid these workers.

Minimum Wage

Despite the strongest economy in a generation, there are still millions of workers trying to raise a family and struggling to make ends meet. The President's proposal will increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 over two years. For someone who works full-time, this minimum wage increase will mean an additional $2,000 per year. A higher minimum wage will help over 10 million Americans. Seventy percent of the workers who would benefit are adults, age 20 or over, and 60 percent are women, many of whom are trying to raise their family on $5.15 an hour. This increase will help ensure that, as costs continue to rise, parents who work hard and play by the rules can bring up their children without living in poverty.

Equal Pay

The average woman who works full-time earns approximately 75 cents for each dollar that an average man earns. For women of color, the gap is even wider. This gap is, in part, attributable to differing levels of experience, education, and skill. However, even after accounting for these factors, a significant pay gap still remains between men and women in similar jobs.

DOL's budget includes $17 million for the President's Equal Pay Initiative. This effort will train women in nontraditional jobs in the high-tech industry and other skills shortage industries, as well as furnish written materials in One-Stop Career Centers to help educate the public on the importance of equal pay issues, and implement industry partnerships. These proposals will complement already existing programs that provide legal guidelines and industry best practices to Federal contractors on equal pay issues.

The Initiative dedicates $10 million from the current H-1B nonimmigrant fee for DOL to train women in nontraditional occupations such as high-tech industries. The initiative provides $7 million to help employers assess and improve their pay policies, to provide nontraditional apprenticeships, and support public education efforts. The President will call on Congress again to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen wage discrimination laws and provide for additional research, training, and public education efforts on this important subject.

Workplace Safety

Within DOL, OSHA and MSHA administer various laws that protect individuals in the workplace, ensuring industry compliance through an appropriate balance of fair and consistent enforcement, cooperative partnerships, and compliance assistance and training. These programs total about $668 million in FY 2001, an increase of $59 million over FY 2000.

For OSHA's workplace safety and health programs, the budget provides a total increase of $44.4 million. Funding is increased by $9.8 million to support a targeted interventions program that will focus front-line efforts on the most dangerous workplaces and hazards. Over the past several years, OSHA has undertaken measures to leverage its resources and utilize information to target firms with the highest workplace injury rates.

For compliance assistance, activities are increased by $13.9 million. This request will complete OSHA's commitment to provide compliance assistance staffing specialists in every Federal OSHA office to provide direct outreach and training assistance to employers and employee groups. The budget also includes increased funding for Susan Harwood education and training grants to community-based organizations, universities, business groups, and unions, and the state consultation grants which provide small firms with safety and health advice.

An increase of $1.8 million is requested to fund a new State plan for the State of New Jersey to provide safety and health coverage for public sector employees. Additionally, the budget includes $3 million for OSHA's state plan partners, allowing them to expand the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) sites. Federal funding in support of the states is required to enable these programs to keep pace with current program needs and to meet future demands.

A total increase of $14.2 million is requested for MSHA's Mine Safety and Health programs. To enhance protection of metal/nonmetal miners, funding is included to provide required training to miners and to allow for better auditing of accident and injury reporting. Additional funds are requested for the State grant program to provide training assistance to miners and mine operators. A contingency fund is established to enhance MSHA's capacity for rapid response to mine fire and explosion emergencies.

Information Technology Initiative

The FY 2001 budget establishes a permanent, centralized IT investment fund for DOL managed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). In the past, DOL agencies have separately budgeted for and managed their own IT investments. While the investments met the immediate needs of the individual agency, it also had some unintended consequences such as incompatibility of systems across the Department, resulting in a compromised capacity to create an overall program that is effective and efficient.

As required by the Clinger Cohen Act, in 1996, the Department established a CIO accountable for IT management in DOL, and implemented an IT Capital Investment Management process for selecting, controlling, and evaluating IT investments. The Department implemented the first phase of its new IT Capital Planning and Investment Management program in 1999, which identified needs considered to be essential to improving the overall condition of IT environment in support of Departmental programs.

For FY 2001, $60 million is requested to fund IT investments within three crosscutting areas: (1) Information Technology Architecture and Web Services; (2) Common Office Automation Implementation; and (3) Security - Critical Infrastructure Protection. These investments will enable the Department to implement a sound information technology investment strategy, and expand our Internet capacity for the Department's ELAWS program with improved access to information to the public on labor laws, pension and health care laws .

CONCLUSION

These proposals, reinforce the traditions of American families and communities, for a stronger and more prosperous America. The new and innovative programs presented in this budget, as well as the Department's continuing efforts on behalf of working Americans, represent an exciting, viable blueprint for FY 2001. The programs, policies and initiatives included within it are essential to the well-being of working men and women in the United States and abroad, and so every American stands to benefit from these proposals.