A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/797457
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE Congress is in session during t he week of March 6, and will remain in session for the rest of the month until a break in April. As a reminder, Congress has a jam - packed schedule this year and it will be full of legislative activity. OFFICIAL TIME MARK - UP The House Oversight & G overnme nt Reform Committee planned to mark - up two bills focusing on official time on March 8. The first bill, H.R. 1293, was introduced by Dennis Ross (R - FL) and will amend title 5, United States Code, to require that the Office of Personnel Management submit an annual report to Congress relating to the use of official time by Federal employees — basically, an increase in reporting on time/activities on official time. The second bill was just introduced and is titled "The Official Time Reform Act of 2017" (the leg islation does not yet have a bill number). Our understanding is that the bill was introduced by Rep. Jody Hice (R - GA) and would amend the Title 5 official time statute to prohibit federal employees from l obbying while on official time. Additionally, the b ill will prohibit some federal employees from counting time spent on official time as creditable service under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees Retirement Systems (FERS). More to come as soon as we have the information/bill. NATCA staff is scrubbing the language to analyze what impacts this could have on the NATCA membership and will put out a more detailed update once the bills pass out of committee. Floor Action : GA staff is already working on outreach to Democrats and fri endly Republicans to encourage opposition to this bill. It is expected that both bills will pass through the committee in a partisan manner during the mark - up, and could potentially come to the House floor within the next couple of weeks. In the event that this legislation proceeds to the House floor, GA staff has already begun to fully engage with all Republicans who have voted with us on official time issues in the past. Stay tuned for updates. POTUS ADDRE SSES JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS On Feb. 28, Presi dent Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, which included the House, Senate, Cabinet members, and the Supreme Court. During his address, Trump discussed his agenda for the next year, including topics such as immigration, national debt, tax reform, a nd healthcare, among many other issues. The president said he wants Congress to approve $1 trillion in infrastructure investment financed through both public a nd private funding. However, he didn't offer specifics about a plan. FAA REAUTHO RIZATION The cu rrent FAA Reauthorization is set to expire at the end of September, coinciding with the end of this fiscal year. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has already begun to hold a series of hearings leading up to reauthorization of the FAA, ti tled "Building a 21st Century Infrastructure for America," with two hearings focused on aviation manufacturing and the state of America's airports.