Breaking Down the Administration’s 2022 Budget Proposal

“For the first time in four years, federal employees can read the president’s budget proposal and feel hopeful about the future,” said NTEU National President Tony Reardon on the administration’s budget released last Friday.

The 2022 budget proposal includes:

– A 2.7 percent average pay increase for federal employees. While this is a step in the right direction, NTEU is working with Congress to pass the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act (H.R. 392 and S. 561) which would provide federal employees a 3.2 percent average pay increase next year.

-A paid family leave program that would help working Americans care for critically ill family members.
-Agency funding levels that enable federal employees to have the tools and staffing they need to do their jobs.

The proposal would also provide increased funding across several NTEU-represented agencies, including:

IRS
The proposal includes $13.5 billion for the IRS, enough to support hiring an additional 8,493 full-time employees over the 2021 operating plan. Combined with the additional $80 billion in proposed funding over the next 10 years called for in the American Families Plan, the IRS can begin rebuilding after years of budget cuts.

CBP
The budget proposal includes more than $150 million in additional funding for the Office of Field Operations. Also included is significant funding for the modernization of the nation’s ports of entry to improve border security and ensure more efficient processing of legal trade, travel and commerce.

Other proposed funding increases include $15 million more for the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, $25 billion more for the Department of Health and Human Services, $4.3 billion more for the Department of Energy and $2 billion more for the Environmental Protection Agency.

In other positive news, this budget document does not seek to put any financial regulatory agencies under the appropriations process or otherwise harm their autonomy. 

“This budget proposal is a recognition that our nation’s nonpolitical, career civil servants are worthy of investment,” said Reardon.

NTEU will keep you updated as Congress continues its appropriations work.