But Budget Change Proposals Hike Ag Enforcement

Governor Gavin Newsom released his proposed 2026-2027 budget on January 9, including a top-line 14% decrease in the overall budget for the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA). Overall expenditures for Cal/OSHA decrease from $285 million in the final 2025-2026 budget to roughly $245 million in the Governor’s proposed ’26-’27 budget. The largest reductions in the Governor’s budget proposal are in enforcement ($728,000) and Cal/OSHA Consultation ($1.3 million). The Governor’s budget increases funding for the Cal/OSHA Standards Board, Cal/OSHA Appeals Board and other agency subunits.

As legislative budget process unfolds, agencies like Cal/OSHA make budget change proposals, or BCPs, to the Budget Committees of both houses, presumably with the blessing of the Governor’s office. In the case of this budget, a BCP is pending for an additional $5.9 million and 35 new enforcement positions to address “extreme heat workload and agricultural enforcement and outreach efforts,” which will have the effect of backfilling the Governor’s proposed enforcement cuts and further expand the efforts of Cal/OSHA Agricultural Enforcement Task Force and Outreach Unit (see Cal/OSHA Announces Ag Enforcement Unit, FELS Newsletter, September 2024.)

Federal OSHA provides about 17% of Cal/OSHA’s operating budget. Nearly all the remainder of Cal/OSHA’s budget is funded through assessments to the State of California paid by employers on their workers’ compensation premiums.