NATCA Bookshelf

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE The House and Senate are in a "lame duck" session of Congress that will now go through Dec. 21. A lame duck session of Congress describes the period between the November election and the swearing in of the new Congress in January. The new 116 th Congress will convene on Jan. 3, 2019. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DEADLINE PUSHED BACK TWO WEEKS Funding for the FAA, as well as some other agencies and departments, expires on Friday, Dec. 7. However, Congress' schedule has been adjusted to accommodate the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush. Federal departments and agencies closed on Wednesday, Dec. 5, which President Trump declared as a national day of mourning, and the House canceled votes for the week. As a result of the schedule change, Congressional leaders switched gears on the strategy for government funding and passed, by unanimous consent, a two-week Continuing Resolution (CR) to avoid a partial government shutdown on Dec. 7. The President signed the CR on Friday morning, Dec. 7. The funding debate will simply be postponed until the new deadline of Dec. 21, just a few days before Christmas. We continue to believe that a government shutdown is possible at that time due to the disagreement over funding for the proposed U.S./Mexico border wall. Wall Debate – Disagreement over funding for President Trump's proposed border wall continues to be front and center of the government funding debate, since this may be the last chance for the White House to win wall funding before Democrats take over the House in January. A heated, partisan debate over wall funding could lead to a partial government shutdown, which would include the FAA, when the new CR expires on Dec. 21. FAA Funding – The FAA receives funding via the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill. The Agency is currently operating under a CR that provides funding at the Fiscal Year (FY 2018) funding levels. A new, FY 2019 funding bill for THUD was not enacted into law by the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1. NATCA Government Affairs (GA) is working with members of Congress and staff on a number of fronts to ensure they are aware of the negative impact a shutdown has on the NAS. Below is a chart that shows the current funding levels for the FAA ("FY 2018 Enacted"), and what has been proposed in the House and Senate appropriations committees for FY 2019. Pay Raise for Federal Employees – President Trump's "alternative pay plan" includes a zero percent pay increase for federal employees covered by the General Schedule (GS) and other statutory pay plans in 2019. NATCA's negotiated pay articles with the FAA provide for annual increases equivalent to the GS increase, effective the first full pay period in January. But the President's alternative pay plan would only take effect if Congress does not act. (Congress can pass legislation that includes a pay increase and, if it is signed into law, the President's zero percent increase would be overridden.) The Senate already passed the FY 2019 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill that includes a 1.9 percent pay

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