Below is a comparison of the staffing levels by division of the Office of Management and Budget from 1988 through fiscal year 1990: DISTRIBUTION BY PROGRAM AREA OF FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITION 1 The Director's Office includes the following components: the Office of the Director, External Affairs, General Counsel's Office, the Administration Office the Office of Legislative Affairs, and the Office of Economic Policy. * Current FTE estimates for fiscal year 1989 project that OMB will only be able to fill 522 of the original estimate of 530 FTE's with personnel funds MARKETING ORDERS Marketing orders which are authorized under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 have made valuable contributions to the stability of many of our agricultural commodity markets. In addition to assuring orderly markets for both producers and consumers, marketing orders have provided for quality control standards, research and promotional programs, and supply management programs. The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 gave direct supervision and control over the management of marketing orders to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Office of Management and Budget has never been given any legislative authority over marketing orders. OMB has attempted to become involved in the management of marketing order programs through the President's task force on regulatory review in recent years. The Committee has included language prohibiting OMB from acting with regard to marketing orders. The purpose of this language is to reaffirm USDA's sole authority in an area where they have developed the necessary expertise and trained personnel over the years to effectively monitor and enforce agricultural marketing order programs. ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO STATISTICAL DATA The Committee has again included language which prohibits OMB from curtailing the collection and dissemination of alcohol and tobacco statistical data. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs [OIRA] apparently does not share the Committee's concern over the critical need for such data in addressing such problems as alcohol abuse, public health, and industrial safety. The Committee, however, recognizes the continuing need and directs the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms [ATF] to continue the monthly collection of alcoholic beverage statistics. TRANSCRIPT REVIEW The Committee has included language in the bill that would prohibit OMB from altering certain transcripts. OFFICE OF FEDERAL PROCUREMENT POLICY The Committee recommends an appropriation of $2,660,000 for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy [OFPP]. The Committee recommendation is identical to the budget estimate and the House allowance. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy is responsible for promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the procurement of property and services by and for the executive branch. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy funds the Federal Acquisition Institute to serve as the interagency focal point for promoting and coordinating Government-wide planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of programs in procurement, research, education and training, and career development. The level of funding recommended by the Committee will allow a total of 37 full-time permanent positions or 5 additional full-time permanent positions over the level provided in fiscal year 1989. FUNDS APPROPRIATED TO THE PRESIDENT The Committee recommends an appropriation of $1,000,000 for unanticipated needs. The Committee recommendation is identical to the budget request and the House allowance. In 1940, Congress recognized the need for the President of the United States to have limited funds available to meet unplanned and unbudgeted contingencies. In so doing, an account entitled "Emergency fund for the President" was created allowing the President, as the head of the National Government, to confront unforeseen problems demanding immediate executive action. In 1975, Congress changed the account title to "Unanticipated needs." Expenditures from this account may be authorized only by the President while the Director of the Office of Management and Budget provides the necessary control to assure that only unforeseen priorities are financed. Prior use of these funds has occurred under tight budget control and covered unanticipated needs not met from regular budget accounts nor available in a timely fashion through the supplemental budget process. The Committee recommends no appropriation for expenses of management improvements at the Office of Management and Budget for fiscal year 1990. While funds have been requested by the administration to enable the President to develop and implement improvements in the management, organization, and operation of the agencies of the executive branch, with the very tight budget constraints in fiscal year 1990 the Committee is unable to provide funds to continue or expand these activites in the next fiscal year. While the Committee does not argue that a more integrated approach to the management of Government-wide financial activities has merit, it cannot support funds for these activities in fiscal year 1990. OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY The Committee's recommendation for salaries and expenses of the Office of National Drug Control Policy for fiscal year 1990 is $12,000,000. This amount is the same as the budget estimate and the House allowance. The Office of National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP] was established pursuant to section 1002 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Public Law 100-690. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is the President's primary_executive branch agency for drug policy and program oversight. The law provides for four positions subject to Senate confirmation: a Director; a Deputy Director for Supply Reduction; a Deputy Director for Demand Reduction; and an Associate Director for State and Local Affairs. The Director is charged by law with the formulation, evaluation, coordination, and oversight of both international and domestic antidrug abuse function of all executive branch agencies, and to ensure that such functions sustain and complement State and local antidrug abuse efforts. Mandated ONDCP activities include the annual development of a national drug control strategy; the coordination and oversight of all Federal antidrug policies and programs covering 36 separate departments and agencies and the programs they administer; the development of a consolidated drug control budget for presentation to the President and the Congress, including budget certifications and quarterly reprogramming reports; the encouragement of the pri vate sector and State and local initiatives for drug prevention and control; recommendations to the President regarding changes in the organization, management, and budgets of Federal departments and agencies engaged in the antidrug effort; representation of the administration's drug policies and proposals to the Congress; the participation by the Director in NSC deliberations and decisions concerning drugs; the production of legislatively mandated studies and reports for submission to the President and the Congress, and the establishment and oversight of numerous legislatively mandated national campaigns and commissions. In addition to the national drug strategy, the ONDCP must also develop and present to the President and the Congress a consolidated national drug control budget proposal to implement the strategy. As mandated by law, each report must include a full assessment of the resources required to implement the national drug control strategy, as well as 3-year projections for program and budget priorities. The funds provided in fiscal year 1990 will support a permanent full-time staffing level of 96, an increase of 25 over the fiscal year 1989 enacted level. The Committee has approved the bill language requested by the ONDCP to use the approved level of $12,000,000 for salaries and expenses and research grants as the Director may see fit. The following table reflects how the appropriation recommended by the Committee would affect the agency funding levels by object class and FTE's. Appropriations, 1989.. Budget estimate, 1990. SPECIAL FORFEITURE FUND House allowance... $136,000,000 136,000,000 The Committee has recommended no authority to spend special forfeiture fund balances which become available at the end of fiscal year 1990. Section 6073 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Public Law 100-690, established the special forfeiture fund to be administered by the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In accordance with that act, beginning in fiscal year 1990, up to $150,000,000 in unobligated balances at the end of each fiscal year in the Department of Justice assets forfeiture fund are to be transferred to the newly established special forfeiture fund within the Treasury of the United States and be made available to the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. These funds may be carried forward and remain available without limitation for the next fiscal year, subject to appropriation. The authorizing act requires that the President, in consultation with the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, include a separate and detailed request for the use of the amounts in the fund as part of the President's budget submission to the Congress and that these funds shall be used for supplementing existing Federal funds but not supplanting funds otherwise available for drug control activities. The authorization further requires that any funds requested for disbursement from the special forfeiture fund reflect the priorities of the national drug control strategy. The Director of the Office of National Control Policy proposes authorization language to permit the disbursement of unobligated balances in the justice assets forfeiture fund to the special forfeiture fund prior to the close of the fiscal year. This authorization change is being proposed to allow the Director of Office of National Drug Control Policy to access these funds earlier in the fiscal year to fund prison construction and support drug control activities related to the designation of "high-intensity drug trafficking areas.' While the Committee is extremely sympathetic to the Director's desire to provide additional funds for very worthy activities such as prison construction and high-intensity drug trafficking zones, it concludes that until the national drug strategy report is published and an appropriation request is made on the basis of the priorities reflected in that report, it would be unwise to approve this early disbursement of funds to the special forfeiture fund. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that this authorization change would have the effect of amending the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and may adversely affect the Justice Department requirements for the use of these moneys in fiscal year 1990. Consequently, the Committee strongly encourages the Director to issue his national drug strategy report and then make a request to the Congress for funding authority once the drug control priorities have been identified in accordance with the provisions of Public Law 100-690. |