Felony charges for some violations and higher penalties for others are among the provisions in a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Patty Murry (D-Wash.). If enacted, Senate Bill 665 -- the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) – would make significant changes in the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

With $4.6 trillion in cuts proposed over the next decade, it’s difficult to predict what effect Rep. Paul Ryan’s ambitious GOP budget plan would have on specific programs and agencies, such as OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The top of the charts' number one issue of immediate consequence in Washington is that strange word – sequestration, according to Aaron Trippler, government affairs director of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).

President Obama's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget includes $565.5 million dollars for OSHA, with some individual programs getting a slight increase, some a decrease and some maintaining 2012 levels.

OSHA's proposed rule on occupational exposure to crystalline silica is among the items being followed closely by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), according to AIHA Government Affairs Director Aaron K. Trippler.

Although Congress appears to mired in inactivity when it comes to regulatory issues, OSHA is using the new year to re-energize several issues which had previously run into a brick wall.

In what AIHA Government Affairs Director Aaron K. Trippler calls a "surprise" move, OSHA has put a Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)-related item on its regulatory agenda.

Despite predictions that lawmakers would cut OSHA funding back to 2006 levels, the agency will receive more money during the remainder of the 2012 fiscal year, under the federal budget that has apparently been finalized by Congress.

Globally Harmonizeed System (GHS) is one of the few regulatory issues likely to be finalized during the next six months, according to Aaron K. Trippler, Director of Government Affairs for the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).

Will the failure of the so-called "Super Committee" to come up with a plan to cut the federal deficit trigger automatic spending cuts in federal agencies like OSHA, MSHA and NIOSH?