NATCA Bookshelf

Peter DeFazio and his staff on an expected proposal that would have provided an alternate model for ensuring a stable, predictable funding stream for the FAA, while also protecting employees and ensuring the safety of the NAS. Ultimately, Rep. DeFazio did not introduce his proposal. STATUS H.R. 4441 was approved by the T&I Committee on Feb. 11, 2016, and is currently awaiting consideration on the House floor. SENATE LEGISLATION S. 2658 (which passed as H.R. 636, as amended): FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016 The Senate bill does not reform the structure of the FAA nor its status as a government agency. Stable, predictable, and sustainable funding remains a top priority for us in any long-term FAA bill. However, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee did not have the ability to solve the funding issue, which is why it is not in the bill. Although we have concerns that an 18-month reauthorization is not long enough, we see this vote as a positive step toward ensuring predictability for the FAA. We support new controller hiring language that is contained in the bill. It requires the FAA to recruit experienced controllers, including military and Department of Defense civilian controllers, Federal Contract Tower controllers, and those with prior FAA experience. It provides a path for CTI graduates and military veterans without subjecting them to the FAA's biographical assessment, and separately it provides for a general public recruiting pool. The FAA would be required to refer similar numbers of candidates from the CTI and veteran pool and the general public pool. CTI graduates and veterans could also apply via the general public pool. There is also very positive language in the bill regarding aircraft certification and involvement of our aviation safety engineers in that process. The bill contains the FAA's requested technical correction (editorial change) to FAA's ATC retirement provisions in order to continue its annuity computation for supervisors and second level managers. This correction would clear up a disagreement between the FAA and OPM regarding supervisor annuities. The Senate Commerce Committee and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) do not consider this a statutory change, only a clarification of the existing statutory language with no additional cost to the taxpayer. STATUS This legislation passed the Senate by a vote of 95-3 on April 19, 2016, and has been sent to the House for consideration. FAA REAUTHORIZATION continued NiW Today n i w . n a t c a . n e t 26

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