A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/648546
NATCA recommends participation in the 2016 PMA Benchmarking Customer Satisfaction Survey. However, it is also recommended that participants refrain from answering questions 2, 3, and 4 of the survey because they a sk for iden tifying information. If you have any questions, please contact Kendal Manson, Labor Relations Coordinator, at kmanson@natcadc.org . GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE : The House and Senate are both in session the week of February 29. The House will be in recess the week starting March 7th and return to Washington DC on March 14th. HOUSE FAA REAUTHORIZATION BILL ON HOLD : Leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has determined that the ch amber will not take up House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Bill Shuster ' s FAA reauthorization bill (H.R. 4441) before the March 31 authorization deadline. Instead, the House will switch gears and consider a second short - term exte nsion for the FAA authorization. Chairman Shuster continues to educate members of Congress about his proposal and address their concerns, in hopes of generating enough support for H.R. 4441 to be considered on the House floor. Senate Action : Meanwhile, on the Senate side, the Commerce Committee plans to put together a proposal of its own. At this time, it is unclear what the proposal would include, but the Senate legislation will not include an air traffic control not - for - profit proposal as the House versio n proposes. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R - SD) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D - FL) are attempting to draft a bipartisan Senate FAA Reauthorization bill. They have an accelerated schedule they are trying to meet, and that includes introd ucing their bill and moving it through the committee in March and Senate floor for a vote in late April or May. This is an incredibly aggressive timeline and we'll keep everyone updated as it moves forward. Just as with the House version of FAA Reauthoriza tion, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and EVP Trish Gilbert, along with staff in the NATCA National Office, continue to work closely with Senators and staff to ensure that NATCA's priorities are addressed in any FAA reauthorization bill. FAA extension will be needed : As mentioned above, the House and Senate are working on a second extension of the current FAA authorization, which expires on March 31. This extension would likely last at least through the end of June or the beginning of July in order to give bot h chambers of Congress more time to work on a new reauthorization. As a reminder, before the 2012 FAA reauthorization bill was enacted into law, there were 23 extensions for FAA authorization. Each time the extension was about to lapse was another chance f or a partial FAA shutdown and member furloughs. This is the sort of funding uncertainty that we have worked hard to address and is all the more reason to remain involved and engaged in the process. If no bill or extension is passed and signed into law, the n the FAA will face a partial shutdown as it did in 2011. NATCA staff continues to work with all sides on the extension and will offer more upda tes as they become available. Background : NATCA continues to push for reform to end the stop - and - go funding unce rtainty, which has been problematic for the workforce and the NAS for far too long. We have made clear that we will consider any and all reform proposals so long as they do not maintain the status quo or result in a for - profit system. That is why we suppor t H.R. 4441 – it is currently the only option on the table that offers a solution to the