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and you're likewise cutting the Older American Volunteer Programs, as well as the ACTION Drug Alliance. How then do you justify your request for a 7.5 percent increase in Program

Administration?

When we assessed the overall budget
within the resources available to the
agency, we felt it important to meet the
provisions in the 1989 Amendments to the
Domestic Volunteer Service Act. Most of
these reside in the VISTA program (i.e.
service year floors, stipend and
subsistence increases). For the Older
American Volunteer Programs (OAVP) we
felt that the most important increment
at this time was to support whatever
portion of the $0.15 authorized stipend
increases we could afford within an
overall level budget for these programs.

For Program Administration, we believed
that given the growth in programs and
the budget ceiling we faced, it was
critical to maintain a current services
level of effort. Therefore, our request
for Program Administration represents a
current services budget; we are

maintaining the same number of staff and
level of activity as the Congress
approved in the prior year, recognizing
the critical staffing and program
administration needs of the agency.

Prior to FY 1991, for several years we
maintained a very high staff vacancy
rate in critical positions due to the
need to absorb pay increases and
uncontrollable cost increases within our
support funding levels. This situation
was mostly rectified in fiscal year
1991, as Congress approved additional
positions for the Agency, including the
hiring of 13 positions to staff the
VISTA recruiting effort urged in the
1989 Amendments to the Domestic
Volunteer Service Act.

Approximately 99 percent of the increase in our request for fiscal year 1992 is for personnel compensation and is designed to maintain the staffing levels approved in 1991. Almost $800,000 of the increase is for mandatory civilian pay increases; most of the rest

represents the full year effect of the hiring we have undertaken this fiscal

Question:

Answer:

year, hiring that in some cases was
postponed to later in the year due to
the reduction below the level originally
requested by ACTION for Program
Administration funds in fiscal year
1991. The majority of these positions
are in our field offices and represent
staff who are necessary to provide
oversight and technical assistance to
our grantees and volunteers and support
to our Agency's operations nationwide.

For these reasons, we believe that our request for Program Administration is fully justified.

SENIOR COMPANION PROGRAM

Ms. Kenny, we have more frail elderly in
my state of Iowa as a percent of the
total population than just about any
state in the country. So naturally, the
issue of home-care is extremely
important to me. With a burgeoning
elderly population, it is an issue that
we are going to have to face up to in
the very near future.

The Senior Companion Program is one of the most cost-effective means of delivering vitally needed home care services. Our Senior Companion Program in Waterloo is helping nearly 300 frail elderly to stay in their own homes and out of expensive nursing homes.

Ms. Kenny, in light of growing need, and the cost effectiveness of this program, why are you proposing level funding?

We fully recognize the valuable
contribution that Senior Companions make
to those they serve and to their
communities. Indeed, in fiscal year
1990 we implemented separate agreements
with the Visiting Nurses Associations of
America and the Administration on Aging
to expand the activities of Senior
Companion Program projects, including
encouraging the growth on non-ACTION
funds for these efforts.

Concerning the fiscal year 1992 budget, we considered several factors in recommending an overall, level budget for the Senior Companion Program. First, in light of the overall budget ceiling, as well as the mandates in the Domestic

Volunteer Service Act, trade-offs were required. We believed it necessary to respond to the mandatory requirements in our authorizing legislation, particularly those related to the VISTA program.

Second, as I indicated earlier the number of SCP projects has increased significantly since 1987. We need to allow those projects to stabilize fully before attempting to add new ones. Indeed, as of the last grant reporting period, these new SCP grantees were spending at an effective rate of approximately 84% of their authorized levels, meaning that 16% of the

available monies were not being used and the projects are not operating at full capacity.

Third, and finally, we felt that the most important increment at this time was to support whatever portion of the $0.15 authorized stipend increases we could afford within an overall level

budget for these programs. That is why we have included a $.05 stipend increase for the Senior Companion Program within our budget request.

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

STATEMENT OF BERNARD E. DeLURY, DIRECTOR

ACCOMPANIED BY:

BRIAN L. FLORES, DEPUTY DIRECTOR

MARY P. DURKIN, BUDGET OFFICER

BUDGET REQUEST

Senator HARKIN. Now we will hear from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The mission of the Service is to prevent and to minimize labor-management disputes having a significant impact on interstate commerce or national defense for all industries, with the exception of railroad and airline industries.

The fiscal year 1992 budget request for the Service is $28.1 million, an increase of $1.1 million over 1991. No funding is sought for labor-management cooperation grants.

Welcome, Mr. Bernard DeLury, the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Your statement will be made a part of the record in its entirety, and if you can introduce your companions and summarize your statement, I would sure appreciate it.

INTRODUCTION OF ASSOCIATES

Mr. DELURY. On my left is Brian Flores, who is Deputy Director of the Service-Brian is a 14-year career mediator with the FMCS-and on my right is Mary Durkin our budget officer, who has 21 years of service with the Federal Government and 18 years with the FMCS.

PREPARED STATEMENT

Mr. Chairman, if you would like, in the interest of time, we could dispense with reading the opening statement. We are requesting is $1.1 million over last year's budget or an increase of 4 percent, for a total of $28,145,000, which we expect will cover a full-time equivalency of 315, 204 of which will be stationed in the field, and we hope to add to that number by approximately 20 mediators in 1992.

[The statement follows:]

STATEMENT OF BERNARD E. DELURY

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, it is my pleasure to present to you the fiscal year 1992 appropriation request of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. I would like to describe briefly the Service's mission, detail our work by program area, and outline our request.

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE'S MISSION

The Service was established by Congress in 1947 as an independent agency to prevent or minimize interruptions of the free flow of commerce growing out of labor

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