A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/838362
law: it must pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law before it can go into effect. White House Budget: On Tuesday, May 23, the White H ouse released the FY 2018 budget proposal. As expected, the budget calls for an increase in defense spending, offset by a de crease in discretionary spending. Click here to view a message that NATCA President Rinaldi and EVP Gilbert sent out to the membership. House & Senate Budgets : The House and Senate have still not released their own budget proposals for the upcoming fiscal year. NATCA Impact: As a reminder, while both chambers of Congress and the President have the ability to offer budget proposals, Congress still needs to enact any budget proposal into law. The unpopularity of the President's budget will likely make it even harder to reach spending and budg et deals during FY 2018. While budget proposals do not have the force of law, they serve as a blueprint for the 12 appropriations bills. NATCA will analyze any budget proposal closely to determine any potential impact on our member pay and benefits. GA con tinues to work with members of Congress and their staff on this issue, with a specific focus on appropriations for the FAA. GOWDY NA MED GOVERNMENT REFORM CHAIRMAN Congressman Trey Gowdy (R - SC) was named the new chairman of the House Oversight and Governm ent Reform (OGR) Commit tee on Tuesday, June 13. As a reminder, OGR is important to NATCA because it deals with federal employee pay, benefits, and personnel laws. It also provides oversight to any action the federal government takes, includi ng federal work force policies. PREPARING F OR ANTI - OFFICIAL TIME BILLS Legislation that attacks the use of official time could come to the House floor at any time. For example, one specific bill that NATCA has been following is H.R. 1364, the Official Time Reform Act of 2017, which was introduced by Rep. Jody Hice (R - GA). This legislation would 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 Sy stems (FERS). This legislation has already passed the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, meaning it could come to the House floor at any time for a vote. In order for this legislation to become law, it would need to pass the House, Senate, and be signed by President Trump. NATCA GA staff has been actively lobbying against this legislation and continues to closely monitoring its movement. LEGISLATIVE WATCHLIST In addition to executive actions from President Trump, Congress is already working to advance anti - federal employee bills. With Republicans officially in control of the House, Senate, and White House, the number of proposals that would negatively impact federal employees will rise. GA staff has been and will continue preparing to fight the se proposals.