Based upon the FY 2013 Budget Request to Congress, OFCCP planned to release in final form the Veterans and Disabilities regulations sometime in April of 2013. However, those regulations are still at OFCCP going through “revisions” and have not been sent over to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review and approval. In the most recent FY 2014 budget request to Congress, OFCCP refers to the finalization of the regulations in the past tense, as if they have already been approved and released in FY 2013. Meaning, the new plan is that OFCCP is expecting to have the regulations approved some time before October of 2013. Is this still possible? Yes.
If OFCCP sends the final regulations over to OMB within the next month or two, it is possible that OMB will review (taking at least 60 days to complete, but most likely longer) and approve the regulations before the end of the fiscal year. Our best guess is that the regulations will be final and in place sometime in the late fall or early winter.
The bottom line is this, it is not a matter of “if” they pass; it is now a matter of “when” they will pass. Stay tuned.
by David Cohen and Jana Garman, DCI Consulting Group