WASHINGTON - Today, Workforce Protections Subcommittee Republican Leader Fred Keller (R-PA) delivered the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, at a hearing on ineffective and mismanaged federal workers’ compensation programs:
“The hearing today takes a kitchen-sink, spaghetti-on-the-wall approach to a wide variety of federal workers compensation programs, including legislation which purports to solve shortcomings in many of them. Unfortunately, many of the proposals we will discuss today only add additional layers and expense to already bloated and mismanaged federal programs.
“For instance, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (BLDTF) has been plagued by financial difficulties since it began over 40 years ago. It has been in debt since it was created. Many of the Trust Fund’s problems stem from the Department of Labor’s (DOL) decades-long failure to provide proper oversight or enforcement in addition to interest accumulation on its debt.
“As a result, the Trust Fund’s expenditures regularly exceed its revenue. Because of this funding shortfall, the Trust Fund borrows from the Department of the Treasury’s general fund every year. In 2021, the Trust Fund borrowed approximately $2.3 billion to cover its costs. As of September 2021, total liabilities of the Trust Fund exceeded its assets by over $6 billion. This is both shameful and unsustainable.
“The Trump administration made great strides to correct the Trust Fund’s flaws and to revamp the self-insurance process for coal mine operators. The Biden administration should restrain itself from dismissing President Trump’s reforms out of hand and put the wellbeing of the program above politics. Government Accountability Office’s testimony today states that ‘DOL officials could not describe any anticipated changes to coal operator self-insurance going forward’ and Mr. Godfrey’s testimony confirms that any reforms to the Black Lung Program will be made public months in the future. This is unacceptable.
“In the meantime, Democrats propose papering over inept oversight of federal workers’ compensation programs with big government solutions. Democrats continuously turn a blind eye to the real problems plaguing these programs. Instead of working on bipartisan legislation, like this Committee has historically done, Democrats are demanding more layers of bureaucratic red tape, wasteful spending, and increased control over job creators.
“The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program is an example of potential bipartisan agreement. In the 112th Congress, the Committee took steps, on a bipartisan basis, to reform FECA by introducing legislation that would modernize the FECA program, improve its integrity, and enhance its efficiency. We should revisit commonsense bipartisan reforms instead of pushing workers into broken and bloated programs.
“Unfortunately, today many of my Democrat colleagues and the DOL are advocating for legislative changes that will not improve the critical programs federal injured workers rely upon. Creating presumptions of eligibility under the Longshore program and FECA will only further strain Department resources, increase backlogs, and cause the Department to shift personnel and dollars from other critical programs, like programs to fight opioid misuse, an issue which has plagued communities in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, among others.
“I would like to urge the Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) to focus on reforming the programs they currently oversee by addressing recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector General. The Office of Inspector General’s annual report outlined several significant concerns within OWCP. The Department should address these recommendations before moving forward with radical proposals to monitor state workers’ compensation programs, or haphazardly broadening benefit eligibility.
I hope that this Committee can return to bipartisan discussions to ensure these programs are efficient and effective and are making good use of the taxpayers’ dollars."
