A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/1104355
automatic cuts known as "sequestration" until the next fiscal year. This means that Congress must act this year to raise the budget caps or risk cutting spending in FY 2020, which begins Oct. 1. However, the White House has signaled that it may oppose any congressional deal to raise budget caps this year, especially when it comes to non- defense spending. As a reminder, sequestration was originally enacted as a way to cut federal dollars across the board, but Congress has worked to avoid it over the past several years. In the House, Democrats recently proposed their FY 2020 budget, which would raise the budget caps for the next two fiscal years. In the Senate, Republicans proposed their budget at the end of March, which would abide by the strict spending caps sought by the President. However, a bipartisan deal will likely be required in order to lift the caps, so Congress and the White House will continue to negotiate in the coming months. FEDERAL EMPLOYEE PAY RAISE The 1.9 percent pay raise for federal employees has officially been enacted and will be retroactive to the start of 2019. As you know, President Trump signed a spending package on Feb. 15 to keep the federal government open until Sept. 30. That law included a provision authorizing a pay raise for federal workers for 2019, retroactive to the first full pay period of 2019, overriding the president's decision last December to freeze civilian employees' pay. Because the President was required to issue a new executive order to implement the increase, there was a delay in the implementation of the pay raise. DEBT CEILING DEADLINE Congress will need to take action to either raise or suspend the debt limit to avoid risking a default on government obligations by the end of FY 2019 or early FY 2020 (this upcoming fall). The U.S. Treasury Department has been using so-called "extraordinary measures" to avoid default but borrowing capacity will run out sometime this fall without an increase in the debt limit. NATCA Impact: In recent years, lawmakers and the White House have often clashed over the need to raise or suspend the debt ceiling. This has become an important issue for NATCA since it has disrupted the budget process for the federal government. It is possible that Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration could use the debt limit as leverage for passing other priorities. NATCA GA will continue to closely monitor the debt ceiling debate in the coming months. NATCA IN WASHINGTON NATCA is gearing up for this year's annual lobby week, "NATCA in Washington (NiW)" on Capitol Hill. This year, NATCAvists will be in Washington, D.C. from May 19-22. During the conference, participants will visit their members of Congress to discuss important topics affecting the NATCA membership, including the recent 35-day government shutdown and air traffic controller staffing. Please visit the NiW website for more information.