Budget tightening is set to be the focus of the May 8 commission briefing on midyear update to CPSC's FY2024 operating plan. There are numerous factors behind this need, according to a staff memo (bit.ly/4dqSkkr) outlining proposed updates.
First, the appropriation of almost $151 million (PSL, 4/8/24) is roughly the same as the lower of two scenarios put forward by staffers last fall (PSL, 10/16/23) when funding was not yet finalized. However, it is lower than the $152.5 million level CPSC had been receiving under continuing resolutions that were based on the FY2023 appropriation. Moreover, earmarks for CO and pool drain activities mean money available for everything else is only about $147 million.
Second, CPSC must account for pay raises and other cost increases.
Third, stimulus money from the 2021 American Rescue Plan is nearly depleted with $11.1 million expected to be used in FY2024 and leaving less than $1 million available for FY2025. In short, the days of this secondary funding source are nearing an end.
Staffers made four recommendations:
- Use "voluntary personnel measures" and not achieve the currently approved plan's higher projected staffing level of 585 fulltime equivalents (FTEs). That might have been possible if CPSC got $162 million. The lower FTE target was 568 although the staff's new recommendation does not mention it.
- Prioritize certain projects for funding if more money becomes available – perhaps some $2.9 million via operational savings. First in line, if commissioners agree with the ranking, would be $375,000 to replace an old fire lab exhaust system, $431,000 to maintain the current operating level of the help desk, $193 million to replace certain lab equipment, $303 million for cyber incident response and investigations, and $326 million for NEISS, including a new web application.
- Revise various rulemaking activity, including pulling back from a Section 104 rule on infant carrier firmness. It would be designated as in data analysis and technical review stages. Other revisions reflect recent work: notices of data availability for infant support cushions and nursing pillows (both PSL, 4/29/24), a final rule for a safety closure exemption for Xofluza (PSL, 4/29/24), a direct final rule on fuel containers (PSL, 4/15/24) and a possible direct final rule on infant/cradle swings (PSL, 4/8/24).
- Change how the agency calculates recall effectiveness. It currently divides all known corrections during a particular fiscal year by all units recalled. This means high-unit recalls can – and do – skew calculations. Staff want to average individually calculated correction percentages. In FY2019 to FY2023, the current method gave percentages ranging from 16% to 33%. The new method, had it been used, would have given a tighter 41% to 49% range.
