NATCA Bookshelf

White House Budget: The White House released its FY 2018 budget proposal in May. As expected, the budget calls for an increase in defense spending, offset by a decrease 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 budget 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 continues to work with members of Congress and their staff on this issue, with a specific focus on appropriations for the FAA. PREPARING FOR 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 Systems (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 these proposals. LABOR RELATIONS DEPARTMENT AFN CLARIFICATION PETITION UPDATE The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) held a hearing from June 13–15, 2017, regarding two consolidated petitions (WA-RP-17-0008 and WA-RP-17-0040) to clarify certain positions within the FAA's Office of the Assistant Administrator for Finance and Management (AFN). During the hearing, NATCA presented documentary evidence and witness testimony in support of its assertion that certain positions within AFN should be included in the bargaining unit. NATCA will submit a post-hearing brief to the FLRA summarizing the evidence and outlining why these positions should be included within the AFN bargaining unit. The deadline to submit the post-hearing brief is July 17, 2017.

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