A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/626428
outlining their goal of funding the government on time this year, a task that hasn't been accomplished on time in two decades. In order to do so, Congress would need to pass all twelve a nnual appropriations bills by Oc t. 1, which is the start of the new fiscal year. Republican leaders have vowed to make this a priority this year, and Speaker Paul Ryan has said he wants to begin consideration of spending bills on the House floor by mid - Mar ch, whi ch is much earlier than normal. In recent years, Congress has received a bad reputation for its inability to pass spending bills on time, forcing the government to operate on continuing resolutions (CRs) year after year. The task could be easier th is year because of the two - year bipartisan budget agreement passed in October that already established spending levels for FY 2017. LONG - TERM FAA REAUTHORIZATION : FAA authority is temporarily extended through March 31, 2016 (via H.R. 3614, the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2015). Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member DeFazio on the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee have stated that they only want one extension for the FAA this time around, which is the extension that we are now op erating under through March. In the Senate, Commerce Chairman John Thune expects that the House will move first, and then the Senate will act on its own version. NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and EVP Trish Gilbert, along with GA staff, continue to work clo sely with House and Senate committee staff to discuss NATCA's priorities for the FAA reauthorization bill. With the highway bill completed in December, the House T&I Committee's focus will be solely on the FAA bill this year. Chairman Shuster's staff is ho ping to release a draft of the FAA Reauthorization bill either in late January or early February. It is being widely reported that the Committee is planning a markup of legislation on Thursday, Feb . 11 but we do not have details at this time and will keep you updated as soon as we have more information. FAA MISSES SMALL DRONE RULE DEADLINE : The FAA was supposed to finalize its rules for the commercial use of small drones to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) by Dec . 18 but still has not done so, missing another deadline. The Agency has stated that it hopes to send the final rule to DOT soon but has not provided a specific date. The delay could create a ripple effect, pushing back publicati on of the final regulation months beyond the current April 29 deadline. After DOT gets the regulations, the Office of Management and Budget still needs to give approval. In legislation, Congress required that the FAA issue rules that provide for the integr ation of small drones into the national airspace by September 2015. NATCA GA staff will continue to follow this issue. COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: THE NEW NATCA.ORG WEBSITE Q : " Where can I find the new NATCA website?" A : natca.org. You can a lso use natca.net or natca.com. Q : " How do I get to the members only section?" A : Go to natca.org and click the "MEMBER LOGIN" menu tab on the top right side of the home page (or top left menu section if you're on a mobile device) . Here's the direct URL for that page you can bookmark in your browsers: http://natca.com/index.php/member - login