President Obama is asking Congress to approve a 3.3% increase of $12.1 million for the EEOC over its FY 2016 funding of $364.5 million. The EEOC has been operating with a flat budget after receiving fairly large increases in FY 2009 and FY 2010. If Congress were to approve the President’s request — far from a given — it would represent the first real budget increase for the EEOC in six years.
According to the EEOC’s budget justification statement, the agency would use the increased funds primarily to hire additional staff, including 40 new investigators. Other than that, the EEOC’s statement for the most part does not contain any new initiatives, but instead merely reinforces the agency’s current enforcement strategy.
Also, in one positive development worth noting in particular, the agency indicates that it plans to continue its recently initiated practice of asking for public comments on proposed enforcement guidance documents before finalizing them.
A copy of the EEOC’s budget justification statement is available here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.