The 2009 omnibus spending bill recently signed into law (P.L. 111-8) includes a $15 million increase for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, representing a turnaround for the agency which has lost staff over the last several years.
The agency lost 25 percent of its staff under the Bush Administration, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, something it says has taken away from the agency’s ability to interact with the public on the front lines.
The union is pushing for another increase to the EEOC budget to $378 million in fiscal 2010, calling the $15 million increase this year a "down payment" on addressing a backlog of discrimination charges that has grown to nearly 74,000.