Mr. THOMAS. Let's take a look at the Office of Information. (The pages follow :) OFFICE OF INFORMATION [H. Doc. 61] Request: $54,500 transfer authority for 3 months from April 1, 1963. "For an additional amount for 'Salaries and expenses', $54,500, to be derived by transfer from the appropriation for ‘Reimbursement for special milk program, Commodity Credit Corporation, fiscal year 1963.” EXPLANATION OF LANGUAGE This proposed language would provide an additional $54,500 for increased pay and postal costs from other funds available to the Department as follows: $45,500 for increased pay costs and $9,000 for increased postal costs resulting from Public Law 87-793, approved October 11, 1962. PURPOSE AND NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS Increased pay costs, $45,500 This increase is to provide additional financing to meet the costs of pay increases required by Public Law 87-793. These costs cannot be absorbed without curtailment of essential informational services. Increased postal costs, $9,000 This increase is to provide for additional postal costs due to Public Law 87-793. This appropriation finances the postal costs of all USDA agency publications, periodicals, and bulletins that are mailed from the Government Printing Office. To absorb these costs would necessitate the use of printing funds reserved for congressional distribution and other essential services. Justification of supplemental estimate, fiscal year 1963, for “Salaries any expenses" This estimate provides additional funds to meet the increased pay and postal costs due to Public Law 87-793. Increased emphasis on newly authorized Department programs and activities under the Food and Agriculture Act of 1962 benefiting both urban and rural people has increased the demand upon this Office for preparation and distribution of materials to explain these new programs, as well as the previously existing authorized programs. Requests from farm organizations, consumers and urban outlets, information media, and the general public for special information materials, farmers' bulletins, leaflets, and circulars continues to increase. Increases over the years granted to this Office have not kept pace with increases for research and other programs of the Department making it continually more difficult to carry out an adequate information program. Any attempt to absorb the increases in pay and postal costs due to Public Law 87-793 would further reduce the effectiveness of our programs. In addition to financing the postal costs for the regular programs and activities of the Office of Information, this appropriation finances the postal costs of the mailings of all periodicals published by all USDA agencies that are mailed by the Superintendent of Documents. Annual total mailings of these periodicals continue on the increase. Any absorption of the increased pay and postal costs under Public Law 87-973 would necessitate a reduction in the funds available for preparation and distribution of the needed special materials requested on newly authorized and existing agriculture and food programs and a reduction in the funds available for printing farmers' bulletins and leaflets. In addition, thousands of requests for special information and how-to-do-it information on farming, gardening. homemaking, and consumer subjects would be delayed, possibly to the point of no usefulness, due to this reduction in funds for printing and mailing information materials. ABSORPTION OF PAY COSTS Mr. THOMAS. This is $54,500 transfer authority. [Reading:] For additional amount for salaries and expenses, $54,500 to be derived by transfer from the appropriation for "Reimbursement for special milk program." Do you actually need the language and the transfer? You have pay costs here, $45,000. Increased postal costs, $9,000. How much can you reduce that pay cost without hurting you? Can you stand a cut of 10 percent? Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Chairman, it would be very difficult for us to do this. Mr. THOMAS. Why? Mr. LEWIS. We are a small agency with a tight budget that stays pretty stable over the years. Mr. THOMAS. How many employees do you have? As of December 31 you had 126, so you have appropriated for how many jobs? Mr. LEWIS. The budgeted positions against this appropriation are 136. Mr. THOMAS. At December 31 you have 126, so you can absorb some of this cost. Mr. LEWIS. Our average annual employment is 127. There are ups and downs in it. Mr. THOMAS. How many do you have on the payroll as of this morning? Mr. LEWIS. Against this appropriation we have 120. Mr. THOMAS. You already have it absorbed. You are running your place with 120 employees. Mr. LEWIS. In this immediate period we have had more lapses than would be normal because we have been going through a transitional period in the office. We are trying to reshape some of our programs Mr. THOMAS. If you only have 120 people on the payroll is it going to ruin the organization to let it stay at 120? Mr. LEWIS. We are hurting in several areas. In our publications area where we are coming into the heavy season for getting publications edited, and to the Government Printing Office, we have a Mr. THOMAS. All right. Absorb 10 percent of this and you only have 120 people on the payroll and that will only cost you $5,450. Why can't you do it? Mr. LEWIS. Perhaps we could do it, but it would be difficult on our program overall. If I could explain, in this situation the personnel figures don't reflect a normal situation for the office at this time of year. We are caught between increased demand from the outside of the Department for information, and greater activity in the Department. This is the central coordinating office where we edit material, we clear it, and we disseminate it. Mr. THOMAS. In the appropriation you have 120 people on the payroll now and you have 136 budgeted. That 10 percent is only a small fraction of what you are already absorbing, isn't it? Mr. LEWIS. Well, this is all reflected-it goes back to our overall workload against a somewhat abnormal situation on personnel. During this year, for example, we have taken Mr. THOMAS. Tell me right quick: Can you stand a 10-percent cut without hurting you? Mr. LEWIS. Not without hurting us. Mr. THOMAS. That is only $4,500. Mr. THOMAS. How bad would it hurt? Mr. LEWIS. It will hurt us in taking care of requests for bulletins. We have a backlog of requests now. It will hurt in taking care ofMr. THOMAS. This is all salary costs. Mr. LEWIS. This would be in the salary and expense operation. This work is done by people on salary. It is not in printing. Mr. THOMAS. That is what I said. All right, thank you very much. Mr. Bow. I would just like to point out, Mr. Chairman, along the lines you have been pursuing I am sure we are all familiar with the President's directive of October 11, 1962, on this question of the pay raise. Now, you are in here to get more money because of the pay raise. The President, I think, very properly stated in that memorandum of October 11, that: Such plans will be expected to reflect increases in employee productivity. That is, it is expected that the same amount of work will be performed by increasingly fewer people and the number of employees will not increase proportionately with the increase in programs. All through this message of October 11 to the agencies the President stressed the idea that if we got this pay raise through, a great deal of it should be absorbed and productivity should increase. Mr. LEWIS. We are very conscious of this, Mr. Congressman, and this we are taking into consideration. We are not asking for any more employees. We are just asking to try to keep even with the board, in view of a greater workload. Mr. Bow. That is referred to, too, in this same directive. That when vacancies occurred that productivity should increase and many positions should not be filled. This was one of the purposes of this pay increase. Mr. LEWIS. This we are taking under consideration, but there is a practical limit below which you cannot go and get an increased workload done efficiently and well in terms of what the public wants. Mr. THOMAS. Thank you very much. |