A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/1189372
would authorize the FAA to draw from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund ensuring the FAA can carry out its critical mission in the event of another government shutdown. H.R. 1108: The House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee passed H.R. 1108 on March 27 by unanimous consent. H.R. 1108 has faced hurdles in the House, especially among House leadership, Appropriations Committee leadership, and progressive members. Despite these challenges, thanks to the hard work and perseverance of NATCAvists, H.R. 1108 now has 268 co-sponsors. Co-sponsors can continue to be added to H.R. 1108 until the T&I Committee files an official "Committee Report," which is a document accompanying a bill that has been reported from a committee. The report contains an explanation of the provisions of the bill, arguments for its approval, votes held in markup, individual committee members' opinions, dissenting opinions, cost estimates, and other information. S. 762: Until this year's NATCA in Washington (NiW), NATCA focused its resources on garnering support for the House version of the legislation. NiW served as the launching pad for NATCA's advocacy on the Senate version of the legislation, S. 762, which is identical to H.R. 1108. So far, S. 762 has garnered 12 bipartisan co-sponsors. Background: This legislation was introduced following the 35-day government shutdown that wreaked havoc on the National Airspace System and its workforce. If enacted, this legislation would ensure that the aviation system continues to fully operate, without interruption, in the event of a government shutdown. H.R. 1108 was introduced by Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., Chairman of the House T&I Committee, and Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee. The lead Republican on the legislation is Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, a senior member of the House T&I Committee. In the Senate, Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced S. 762. FEDERAL EMPLOYEE PAY RAISE There currently are different proposals regarding pay raises for 2020 for federal employees coming from the House, Senate, and Administration. Each year, the president is required to submit an alternative pay plan to Congress by the end of August, otherwise, significant automatic pay increases will take effect under the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act. On Aug. 30, President Trump issued an alternative pay plan for 2020 in which he endorsed a 2.6% across the board pay increase for civilian federal employees, but no increase to locality pay, effectively ending the administration's push for a pay freeze next year. Congress also has the ability to propose pay raises for federal employees. For FY 2020, the House-passed Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill includes a proposed 2.6% raise across the board, plus a 0.5% increase in locality pay, so with the House proposal, most could see a total increase of 3.1%. However, the Senate FSGG bill does not contain any pay raise proposal for federal employees. Next Steps: Because another CR was signed into law to extend current funding for the government at FY 2019 levels, the federal employee pay raise proposals are on hold until the House and Senate agree to a final FSGG appropriations bill, and it is signed into law by the President. Alternatively, the President's alternative plan, which includes a 2.6% general increase and no locality change, will go into effect the first full pay period in January. NATCA GA staff will continue to work on this and provide updates.