A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
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GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE The 114th Congress has ended and the House and Senate will return on Jan . 3 for the start of the new 115th Congress. Pr esident - elect Donald Trump and his Vice President - elect, Mike Pence, will be sworn into the White House on Jan . 20, 2017. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AVERTED On Dec . 9, the Senate cleared a stopgap government spending bill to keep the government open. The contin uing resolution (CR; H.R. 2028) will fund the government through April 28 at the fiscal year (FY) 2017 cap of $1.07 trillion. The bill passed the House the previous day, on Thursday, Dec . 8 and replaces the most recent CR, which expired at midnight on Dec . 9th . With another looming threat of a government shutdown, NATCA reminded members of Congress and their staff about the importance of a stable, predictable funding stream and the adverse impact of stop - and - go funding on the NAS. Funding Outlook : The len gth of the new CR is due to a crammed Senate schedule next year that would make consideration of a spending bill in the early months of the 115th Congress a heavy lift. In addition to Republican plans to repeal and replace Affordable Care Act early next ye ar, the Senate will also need to review and confirm President - elect Donald Trump ' s cabinet nominations and potentially a Supreme Court justice. As with previous funding bills, NATCA GA staff will continue to meet with members and staff on the Hill to share NATCA's priority of a stable, predictable funding stream. 2016 ELECTION UPDATE As you know, Republicans maintained control of both the House and Senate in addition to winning the White House. In Louisiana, a Dec . 10 runoff election filled the final open seat in the U.S. Senate and two seats in the U.S. House. Republicans won all three seats. 115TH CONGRESS BEGINS JAN. 3 The new 115th Congress will convene on Jan . 3, 2017. There will be many new faces in Congress, with both the House and Senate remainin g in Republican control. The 115th House of Representatives will consist of 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats, and the 115th Senate will consist of 52 members in the Republican caucus, and 48 members in the Democratic caucus (including 2 Independents). OB AMA RAISES 2017 FEDERAL PAY 2.1 PERCENT President Obama increased next year's average pay raise for civilian federal employees to 2.1 percent, up from the 1.6 percent he had proposed earlier in the year. The raise goes into effect in January 2017, unless C ongress takes action to stop it, which is unlikely at this stage. By way of background, Obama set next year's raise at 1.6 percent (a 1 percent base increase, and a 0.6 percent locality pay bump) back in August. Since then, Congress moved to set next yea r's raise for uniformed military service members at 2.1 percent. President Obama reaffirmed the 1.6 percent civilian raise, at which point members of Congress urged the White House to modify the plan so that the civilian raise matched the military increase . GA staff will keep you updated on the pay raise if anything changes. ATC INSTRUCTOR BILL SIGNED INTO LAW