AFGE Membership Skyrockets in May, Hitting Best Monthly Numbers Since 2015
June 05, 2023
Our union, AFGE, is continuing our upward trajectory and showing the power and benefit of union membership. In short, AFGE is rising!
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AFGE Wins Big in 2023 Government Funding Bill
January 09, 2023
Categories:
The Insider
Just before the holiday break, Congress passed and President Biden signed into law a $1.7 trillion omnibus package that funds the federal government for the entire 2023 fiscal year.
Thanks to AFGE members and staff’s hard work and perseverance, the full-year funding bill contains several provisions that make it easier for government workers to provide services to the American people. Several agencies, for example, received increased funding to implement new laws and fund staffing increases to meet new demands.
Here are some of the highlights of AFGE priorities we won in the omnibus:
Department of Veterans Affairs
- The bill establishes a $5 billion fund for toxic exposed veterans covered by the PACT Act.
- It includes a 22% increase in funding for VA health care.
- It includes $2 billion in funding for VA infrastructure projects.
- The bill defunds the AIR Commission and rescinds prior year funding.
- It includes a Heinrich rider, recommended by AFGE in March, that bars VA from closing or downsizing any rural VA healthcare facilities unless VA performs and provides Congress with an analysis of the impact on veterans’ access to care and impact on travel times to reach providers.
- There’s a requirement for a more robust and accurate report on comparisons of quality and timeliness between VHA care and Community Care.
- The bill provides $3.9 billion, a $409 million or 11.9% increase over fiscal year 2022, to administer benefits, including disability compensation benefits to over 6 million veterans and their survivors. These funds will support VA’s effort to support increases in the number and scope of claims, while decreasing the claims backlog.
Department of Defense
- The bill limits DoD’s ability to put personnel caps on the civilian workforce and reduce the number of civilians. It also limits conversions of civilian jobs to military and contract performance. The President's Budget proposed eliminating this provision, so its inclusion is a very significant victory.
- It includes language continuing the governmentwide moratorium on conducting public-private job competitions under the OMB A-76 Circular, which helps protect most federal civilian jobs from being outsourced
Social Security Administration
The agreement includes an increase of $785,033 for SSA's administrative expenses to support increases in fixed costs across SSA. This is a good first step toward SSA having the resources to serve the public.
Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was funded at $8.4 billion, an increase of $528 million, or 7% more than the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
The bill also includes more than $180 million above the request to sustain and increase BOP hiring efforts. In addition, BOP is directed to ensure that non-custody correctional employees must spend 90 percent of their work week in their primary positions.
Department of Homeland Security
Transportation Security Administration
- The bill includes $398 million to implement the new pay system, which the appropriations committee dubs “pay equity”.
- It provides $61 million for new TSO hiring and $94 million to retain exit lane TSOs as federal employees.
- The bill directs TSA to report within 180 days its detailed plan to implement the new pay system. There is also a requirement for a report within 90 days on challenges to hiring in rural areas and noncontiguous states.
Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Grant Programs
$3.9 billion for FEMA to help communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from both manmade and natural threats, including hurricanes, terrorist attacks, wildfires, and more.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
$133 million to fund refugee operations so that they are no longer fee-funded from citizenship and visa applications, which led to the threat of furloughs in 2020.
Other Agencies
National Science Foundation (NSF): $9.9 billion, a historic $1.036 billion, or 12% increase above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
Small Business Administration (SBA): $1.218 billion for the SBA, which is $188 million more than fiscal year 2022.
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