Government affairs

The Biden Administration released its fiscal year 2022 budget proposal on May 28. The $6 trillion budget proposal is $1.2 trillion larger than the fiscal year 2021 request put forward by the previous administration, and it draws heavily from two initiatives that President Biden released earlier this year, the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan. In a major departure from previous budget requests, President Biden’s proposal does not include any cuts to the Postal Service or measures that attack federal employees’ wages or benefits.

For the Postal Service, the budget includes a proposed $800 million allocation for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024 for the Postal Service to electrify its vehicle fleet. As letter carriers recall, the Postal Service estimates that it would cost $8 billion to electrify its fleet and provide charging infrastructure to support those vehicles. The $800 million per year spread over 10 years totals the $8 billion figure. President Biden has made it a priority to electrify fleets for the 18 federal agencies, including the Postal Service, and his budget request is a clear signal to Congress of this priority currently being discussed as Congress crafts the American Jobs Plan into legislation.

As it relates to the federal workforce, the budget does not call for the myriad of misguided proposals aimed at attacking the health and retirement benefits of the federal workforce. Letter carriers may recall those cuts included pay freezes for federal workers, increases in federal employee contributions for health care, retirement, cutting cost-of-living-adjustments and investment returns – all non-starters in Congress over the years. Instead, the administration proposed a 2.7 percent pay increase for federal workers and noted that it will release a management agenda later this year with agency specific guidance.

“NALC appreciates President Biden’s strong support for the federal and postal workforce,” said NALC President Fredric Rolando. “This budget will set a positive tone for Congress. It also demonstrates respect for postal employees, who continue to rank as the most trusted of federal employees, especially on the heels of a pandemic that solidified our role as essential, front-line workers.”

Overall, the budget proposes $1.5 trillion in discretionary spending, a 16.5% increase in non-defense spending and a 1.6% increase in defense spending. This includes $14 billion for agencies and programs to combat climate change, $133.7 billion for HHS spending, $800 billion in new spending and tax cuts for clean energy, $36.5 billion in high-poverty schools, $13.2 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to enforce collections on corporations and the wealthiest individuals, and increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health.  

For the Department of Labor, the budget also scrapped budget and training cuts and union monitoring funding in favor of a 14% increase for the department. Overall, the DOL budget restates the administration’s commitment to “protect workers’ rights, health and safety, and wages; strengthen the Federal-State unemployment compensation program; support training opportunities that provide pathways to the middle class; fully enforce employment anti-discrimination laws; and more.” Of primary interest to letter carriers, the budget request includes $183 million for the Office of Workers Compensation Protection (OWCP), which reflects an increase of $26 million over fiscal year 2021. The request also includes $664 million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which reflects a $74 million increase from fiscal year 2021.

NALC will update letter carriers as the House and Senate begin their budget considerations.