A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/667048
Energy - Water bill, in subcommittees on Wednesday and full committee on Thursday, when it also will reveal how much discretionary money each of its subcommittees will be allocated to spend. Senate leaders already have said they wil l assume an overall discretionary limit of $1.07 trillion. Unlike in the House, there has been no opposition to that limit in the Senate. Potential Rules Change : A House Rules subcommittee may consider changing a rule to allow entitlement programs to be cu t as part of the appropriations process, instead of through separate legislation. Putting mandatory spending in the hands of appropriators could provide the guarantee sought by conservatives that such spending cuts would be enacted. But it's not clear that any rules changes would be made in time for a deal on a budget resolution this year. FAA Appropriations : On February 24, the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing for the Department of Transportat ion (DOT) with DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx as the witness, and on March 2, the THUD Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss FAA funding levels, with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta as the witness. NATCA closely monitors the THUD appropriations legislation, which provides funding for the FAA. As a reminder, President Obama released his FY17 budget proposal recently, which proposes an increase in the FAA Operations account from $9.909 billion in FY16 to $9.994 billion in FY17. We will keep you updated as the T HUD subcommittees in the House and Senate move forward with their respective appropriations bills. FY 17 BUDGET : As mentioned above, there is still no sign of agreement yet on a Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget resolution in the House. Back in March, the Hou se Budget Committee released a plan that conservative Republicans oppose, which would allow for $30 billion in extra discretionary spending compared to the 2011 deficit - cutting law (P.L. 112 - 25). Continued opposition from conservative republicans is threat ening to derail the resolution if and when it comes to the House floor for a vote. House leadership could choose to bypass any resolution, which is what set the topline spending limits, and instead proceed directly to the annual appropriations bills. Such a move would be unpre cedented, but it could be done. The Congressional Budget Act allows the House to consider appropriations bills on the House floor after May 15 if no budget is passed. These bills could even come to the floor before that date if the Hou se waives certain rules. This strategy would allow conservative Republicans to bypass a vote on a budget they do not support, while allowing for appropriations bills to pass in order to keep the government open. NATCA GA staff will follow this issu e closel y and keep you updated. Senate Action : Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee have delayed consideration of a budget as they also attempt to forge a compromise among conservatives and defense hawks over spending levels the parties agreed to in the fall . Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R - WY) recently noted that producing a budget was not crucial to moving forward with appropriations bills to fund the government since Congress passed legislation last year to establish spending levels. NATCA GA staff will be closely monitoring the budget process as House and Senate discussions continue and will keep you updated. COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK: At any given moment, some 5,000 airplanes are crisscrossing th e skies over the United States. That's a fact obtained by CBS News.com