A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/592965
BUDGET DEAL IS CLOSE : On Monday, October 26, Congr essional leaders and the White House unveiled a broad two - year deal that would set budget levels for the next two years and lift the debt ceiling until 2017. The agreement came just three days before John Boehner is set to retire from Congress and relinqui sh his position as Speaker of the House. This compromise represents a major breakthrough after years of gridlock in Congress and the White House. It is important to understand that details are still forthcoming and this is just a proposed deal. Legislatio n would still need to be approved by Congress and signed by the President. While this is potentially a big step toward preventing a government shutdown when the Continuing Resolution (CR) expires on December 11, this does not mean that a shutdown is entire ly off the table. But the budget deal would create a clear path to avoiding this scenario, primarily by lifting sequestration caps, as well as mandating parity between defense and non - defense spending. With those two big issues addressed, some sort of omni bus or other smaller appropriation bills will still need to be enacted by December 11 to avoid a government shutdown. The broad outline of the proposal is below: SEQUESTER : The agreement would increase discretionary spending by $80 billion above sequester - level spending caps. The increase would be split between defense and non - defense programs. Sequester relief of $50 billion would be applied to Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 and $30 billion for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. NATCA has long advocated for sequester relief. For additional information and a backgroun d on sequestration, see below. DEBT LIMIT: The agreement would lift the debt limit through early 2017. By attaching the debt limit to the budget deal, Republicans can sell the package as raising the debt limit in exchange for spending constraints. Savings would come from cuts in spending on Medicare and Social Security disability programs, selling oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserves, and an array of other programs. At the same time, the deal is craft ed in a way that allows Democrats to call it a "clean" debt limit increase that is simply attached to other legislation. Lawmakers must act to prevent a possible default on the nation's debt by November 3. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES : While GA staff is still examin ing the details of the budget deal, it initially looks like federal benefits are untouched by the agreement — but that still needs to be confirmed as details of the budget deal are released. That being said, anti - federal employee proposals are always a threa t that GA staff follows closely. GA will continue to be on the lookout for anything that would negatively impact NATCA members. MEDICARE PART B : The deal would address a looming increase in Medicare Part B premiums that would hit about one third of the pro gram's beneficiaries. GA has been following this issue and will provide more information at a later date. HOUSE SET TO ELECT NEW SPEAKER : The House must elect a new speaker to take over for current House Speaker John Boehner, who will resign his seat in C ongress on October 30. On Wednesday, October 28, the Republican Conference chose a nominee for speaker, and the full House will vote on Thursday , Oct. 29 . Representative Paul Ryan (R - Wisc. ), Chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, is of ficially in the running for the title following demands he made of Republicans to unify behind him for speaker. The congressman said he would not run for speaker unless he received support from the three major House GOP factions: the Freedom Caucus, the Re publican Study Committee and the Tuesday Group. Both of the latter groups endorsed him, while the Freedom Caucus said only that a super majority of its members would back him. He