Office of Management and Budget

U.S. Department of Labor

www.dol.gov

  • Budget 2010:  $13.3 billion 
  • Enacted 2009 (baseline):  $12.9 billion

With $13.3 billion for the Department of Labor, the President’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget reforms the Unemployment Insurance system (UI), strengthens workforce training, and allows the vigorous enforcement of laws that protect the wages,  safety, and benefits of workers.  On workforce training, the budget helps Americans climb the professional ladder through transitional jobs and career pathway programs, builds on support for "green jobs" in the Recovery Act, and provides targeted support to disadvantaged youth, individuals with disabilities, and returning service members.  To improve conditions and benefits for America’s workers, the budget restores DOL’s capacity to enforce labor standards, establishes automatic workplace pensions, and makes the Saver’s Credit refundable.  

THE NATION'S WORKFORCE

  • Trains and prepares the nation's workforce for jobs in emerging industries.  The President’s budget provides strong support for federal workforce training programs to help Americans prepare for, find, and retain stable, high-paying jobs. 
  • Supports new transitional jobs and career pathway programs.  The budget supports the testing of promising approaches to helping low-income Americans grab hold of and climb the career ladder.
  • Adds to Recovery Act investments in YouthBuild.  The budget expands opportunities for disadvantaged young people to complete their high school education, learn valuable skills, and build affordable housing. 
  • Honors our commitment to returning servicemembers.  The budget provides support for training and placement services to ease the transition of servicemembers to civilian employment.

RESTORES LABOR STANDARDS

  • Enables labor law enforcement agencies to meet growing workloads.  The budget increases funding for OSHA, enabling it to vigorously enforce workplace safety laws and whistleblower protections; the Wage and Hour Division to ensure that dollars earned are dollars paid; and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, to ensure a fair and diverse Federal contract workforce.

AUTOMATIC WORKPLACE PENSIONS AND SAVER'S CREDIT

  • Establishes automatic workplace pensions and makes the Saver’s Credit refundable.  The President’s 2010 budget lays the groundwork for future establishment of a system of automatic workplace pensions, alongside Social Security, that is expected to dramatically increase both the number of Americans who save for retirement and the overall amount of personal savings for individuals.
  • Expands retirement savings incentives for working families.   The budget modifies the existing Saver’s Credit to provide a 50 percent match on the first $1,000 of retirement savings for families that earn less than $65,000.  The credit would be fully refundable to ensure that savings incentives are fair to all workers.

A BETTER UNEMPLOYMENT INSTURANCE SYSTEM

  • Improves UI as an automatic stabilizer.  The 2010 budget proposes changes to make the UI program a more responsive and effective social safety net and economic stabilizer.  These changes will make benefits available more quickly to long-term unemployed workers and avoid the delays associated with enactment of legislation to create special, temporary extended unemployment programs.
  • Improves UI financial integrity.  Despite the efforts of states to reduce improper benefit payments, more than $3.9 billion in UI benefits were paid erroneously in 2008.  The Administration will address this problem by increasing funding for program integrity by $300 million during the next five years and by proposing legislation to reduce improper payments and employer tax evasion.