The House Appropriations Committee “marked up” the HHS fiscal year 2007 spending bill. OSHA would receive $486 million, as compared to $472 million last year.

The bill once again would prohibit OSHA from enforcing its requirement that hospitals annually fit-test respirators designed to prevent occupational exposure to tuberculosis.

House appropriators also repeated their call for OSHA to report on the status of its Employer Payment PPE regulation. The long-awaited rule will determine if employers or employees are responsible for buying different types of PPE equipment. OSHA says they expect final action on the Employer Payment PPE rule by September.

The committee's Labor spending bill includes an additional $5 million for OSHA training grants the administration did not request.

Of course, the bill has a long way to go before becoming law, but it is a good sign that the House Committee is at least providing OSHA with an increase.