Madam Chair and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today in support of the FY 2008 budget request of the Office of Compliance.
Board Member Barbara Camens is in attendance with me today to express the support of the Board of Directors for the Office’s FY 2008 budget request. Also with me today are General Counsel Peter Ames Eveleth, Deputy Executive Director Alma Candelaria, and Administrative and Budget Officer Beth Hughes Brown.
As we have in the past, we present our budget request as a completely zero based budget, in an effort to provide transparency of the Office’s operations, and to assist the Committee in understanding from the ground up how the Office operates its mandated programs in employment dispute resolution, in Occupational Safety and Health and ADA public access inspections and enforcement, and in education and outreach programs. This year, we have requested a total of $4,106,000 for fiscal year 2008 operations. A large portion of this request, $280,200 (28% of the requested increase), is attributed to the required abatement monitoring of the utility tunnels case.
The Office of Compliance (“OOC” or “Office”) approaches fiscal year 2008 with a new Strategic Plan. Although our Plan was implemented at the beginning of fiscal year 2007, 2008 will be the first fiscal year in which the Office has requested funding in support of this Plan. Prior to the end of our first three-year Strategic Plan in fiscal year 2006, the Office began preparation for the drafting of our current Plan. We incorporated input from our entire staff, outlining our major goal of focusing on meeting the workplace needs of the legislative branch, and positioning ourselves to act as a resource to the covered community. Shortly after the beginning of fiscal year 2007, the Office finalized a Plan which covers fiscal years 2007-2009, with focused efforts on communication and collaboration with agencies and employing offices, and providing technical guidance as needed. As we strive to meet the goals and performance measures of our current Strategic Plan, we face new operational challenges of funding and staffing. We request your assistance in overcoming these challenges.
