So far we have lost 77 employees through attrition in fiscal year 1985. We separated another 38 employees during January and February, the earliest possible time for such steps, just to get us to the staff-year level sought in our supplemental request. We have elected, if necessary, to furlough all employees in the absence of supplemental funding because this will allow us to maintain a rational organizational structure, capable of carrying out our responsibilities in fiscal year 1986. However, under this alternative the workload in every office can be expected to fall behind schedule. Serious productivity losses will result, and we will undoubtedly miss statutory deadlines in some cases. More importantly, our employees will be obliged to take a 20-percent cut in pay for a period of up to 6 months, which will force many talented employees to leave the agency. What we have proposed instead, for a relatively small additional amount of resources, is a controlled, gradual, and smooth transition during fiscal years 1985 and 1986 to a lean but effective regulatory agency prepared to deal with both its current and future regulatory responsibilities. We still have a number of very important regulatory responsibilities that relate to the railroads. And it looks like these responsibilities will need to be met for some time to come. Moreover, our responsibilities will continue in the bus area. Until further deregulatory proposals are enacted, we will continue to have regulatory duties to perform in the trucking area as well. With this in mind, our budget proposal for fiscal year 1985 is designed to enable the Commission to carry out its statutory responsibilities and ensure a reasonable transition toward any further reduced regulatory roles. We think this posture will promote the most effective use of our resources and provide the greatest public benefit. FISCAL YEAR 1986 BUDGET REQUEST Let me turn now, if I may, Mr. Chairman, to the Commission's fiscal year 1986 appropriation. In the interest of time, most of the initial part of that statement is with the longer statement we have submitted, so I will begin over on page 4 and quickly add a couple of highlights. ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM Last year, this committee voiced concern over the direction of the Commission's enforcement program. At that time, we advised you that our Office of Compliance and Consumer Assistance had been directed. to prepare for an open public conference, so that the entire Commission could address questions pertaining to the effectiveness of the Commission's enforcement activities. At the conference, which was held last July, the Commission established a list of enforcement priorities that is now receiving the greatest share of our enforcement resources. The types of violations included within the high-emphasis group that our enforcement staff is currently focusing upon are: antitrust, ethics, fitness/safety, household goods, illegal lumping, insurance, kickbacks, overcharges/duplicate payments and c.o.d., owner-operator problems, unauthorized passenger carrier operations, and weight-bumping. The Commission has also given the enforcement staff clear guidance that marketplace solutions are to be encouraged when feasible. The statutory violations that come within the Commission's jurisdiction should be pursued. Also, in line with the recommendations of the General Accounting Office, the data system which stores enforcement case information and resource use has been upgraded and the standards for measuring the effectiveness of our enforcement activities have been revised. The results of our enforcement work during the first quarter of fiscal year 1985 indicate that the changes made have improved our enforcement program. During the first quarter of this fiscal year, over 85 percent of the investigations and litigative actions concluded were cases dealing with high emphasis violations. In fact, over 60 percent of the investigations and litigative cases involved the failure of carriers to maintain insurance at the required level. Without any question, this kind of case is extremely important in view of the threat posed to the public by uninsured passenger or property carriers operating over the highways. I think you would also be interested in some recent figures on revocation of motor carrier operating authorities. During the first 5 months of fiscal year 1985, the Commission has revoked 844 operating licenses through our insurance monitoring program, and of the 844 revocations, 657 were revoked involuntarily because the carriers lacked insurance. The other 187 were revoked at the request of the carriers. We believe these measures demonstrate that the Commission intends to maintain an adequate enforcement program. PUBLIC MEETINGS Also, the Commission has responded to this subcommittee's concerns, not only in the enforcement area but in other areas as well. Last year, questions were raised about the frequency of public meetings of the Commission. As a result, shortly after last year's hearing, a new rule was adopted regarding the convening of public meetings to decide upon specific matters of major transportation importance. To demonstrate what has occurred during a few months under the new rule, as compared with the nearly 3 years that preceded adoption of the rule, an exhibit has been prepared which I would like to have included in the record. Senator ANDREWS. We will be glad to put it in the record, Chairman Taylor. [The information follows:] |