{"id":396898,"date":"2026-07-13T19:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/396898\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T19:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:24:08","slug":"watchdog-group-to-california-governor-dont-cut-cal-oshas-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/396898\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog group to California governor: Don\u2019t cut Cal\/OSHA\u2019s budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington \u2014 A $725,000 proposed cut<\/a> to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health\u2019s 2026-2027 fiscal year enforcement budget isn\u2019t a \u201cfiscal necessity,\u201d watchdog group Public Citizen contends.<\/p>\n

In a June 30 letter<\/a> addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), the consumer and worker advocacy group urges the Newsom administration to \u201cimmediately avoid making the proposed cuts\u201d and \u201ccommit to halting further reductions to this critically understaffed agency.\u201d The letter notes that $16 million was cut from Cal\/OSHA\u2019s current budget. The group also calls for better management of the state\u2019s Occupational Safety and Health Fund, which significantly funds Cal\/OSHA.<\/p>\n

Public Citizen says in a press release that the state fund \u2013 which is supported by an employer surcharge on workers\u2019 compensation premiums \u2013 reported a $200 million surplus this past fiscal year and is anticipating a $130 million surplus this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour administration directed that 50% of OSHA Fund revenues, or approximately $100 million, be held in reserve and withheld from Cal\/OSHA,\u201d the letter states. \u201cAs a result, employer-financed safety funds remain unused while worker protections are reduced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public Citizen cites numerous examples of what it calls Cal\/OSHA\u2019s \u201cdeclining enforcement capacity\u201d and the impacts it has on worker safety, including:<\/p>\n

95 inspector positions remain unfilled as of Jan. 31, \u201crepresenting a 35% vacancy rate.\u201d
\nNine district offices are at or above 50% vacancy.
\nFour offices lack a district manager, and three have no clerical staff.
\n58% of all Cal\/OSHA enforcement activity consists of letter investigations, which require employers to self-report hazards rather than visit sites.
\nThe state has one inspector for every 99,000 workers. By comparison, Oregon and Washington have one for every 23,000 and 28,000, respectively.<\/p>\n

The letter goes on to point out that of the 193 filled compliance officer positions in the state, only two industrial hygienists<\/a> are available to conduct inspections for heat, silica, wildfire smoke, lead, noise and other workplace hazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decline in enforcement<\/a> presents a significant threat to workers exposed to heat,\u201d the letter states. \u201cCal\/OSHA\u2019s heat illness prevention regulations apply to agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, warehousing, and indoor workplaces where temperatures can become hazardous without effective controls. Enforcement of these protections is now compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to restoring the full $725,000 proposed for Cal\/OSHA enforcement in the FY 2026-2027 budget and directing that the full OSH Fund surplus be made available to Cal\/OSHA enforcement, Public Citizen calls on the Newsom administration to:<\/p>\n

Provide a comprehensive public accounting of all directives that have placed OSH Fund revenues in reserve, including the legal authority, duration and specific conditions for their release.
\nAuthorize immediate personnel actions, including market-rate compensation adjustments, to fill the more than 95 vacant inspector positions, with urgent priority for the nine district offices operating at or above 50% vacancy.
\nRedeploy qualified industrial hygienists and prioritize enforcement of heat illness prevention in high-risk industries and regions, consistent with Cal\/OSHA\u2019s heat illness prevention standards.
\nRestore the proposed $350,000 cut to Cal\/OSHA\u2019s Process Safety Management unit, which is responsible for oversight of California\u2019s 13 oil refineries and more than 1,000 workplaces handling highly hazardous chemicals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington \u2014 A $725,000 proposed cut to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health\u2019s 2026-2027 fiscal year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2076,15743,64830,7,150735,9,8,159472],"class_list":["post-396898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-budget","tag-budget-cuts","tag-cal-osha","tag-california","tag-california-division-of-occupational-safety-and-health","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-public-citizen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}