A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/857389
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE The House has adjourned for its August recess, while the Senate is for egoing (for now) its recess and instead st aying in town to work on judicia l branch nominations. When the House comes back into session after Labor Day, it will have only 12 legislative days to reauthorize th e FAA and fund the government. FAA REAUTHORIZATION DELAYED Before adjourning for its Augus t recess, House leadership hoped to bring H.R. 2997, the "21 st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act," to the floor for consideration. As you know, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee approved this legislation earlier in the summer, and Chairman Bill Shuster , R - Pa., has been encouraging fellow lawmakers to support the bill. Due to a busy calendar and the lack of consensus on the bill, the legislation ultimately did not come to the House floor for a vote. Chair man Shuster will continue to shore up support during the August recess and hopes it will be considered on the floor in September. Meanwhile, the Senate's version of FAA Reauthorization, S. 1405, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2017, was passed out of commit tee earlier this summer as well. The Senate bill does not contain any ATC reform provision, whereas the House version does include ATC reform. It is unclear when the Senate will sche dule a floor vote on its bill. Background : The current FAA Reauthorization is set to expire on Sept . 30, coinciding with the end of this fiscal year. If the House and Senate cannot reach a consensus on legislation to reauthorize the FAA, it's likely that another extension will be enacted. NATCA Impact: NATCA has played a critica l role with Congress in the FAA Reauthorization process. We've continued to work with Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio's respective staff, as well as with the Senate staff and executive branch, to ensure that our priorities are addressed i n any FAA Reauthorization legislation. APPROPRIATIONS STILL NOT COMPLE TE — SEQUESTRATION CUTS POSSIBLE Lawmakers won ' t complete any action on appropriations o r the budget until September . The federal government is currently operating under an omnibus spend ing bill through the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 (until Sept . 30). On October 1, the FY 18 calendar will begin. On July 27, 2017, the House passed H.R. 3219, known as the "security mini - bus," to fund 4 of the 12 annual funding bills; including Defens e, Energy - Water, Military Construction - VA and Legislative Branch. All but five Republicans supported this security - themed legislation which includes initial funding of $1.6 billion for the construction of a U.S. - Mexico border wall. The next steps for the l egislation are unclear because its defense spending allocation would breach budget law and it is also unlikely to pass the Senate. If the security minibus were to be enacted, spending levels of that minibus would trigger automatic spending cuts known as a sequester, if ena cted without a new budget deal. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said that when the House returns in September it will vote on the remaining eight annual spending bills, which weren't included in the security "mini - bus," and the b udget resolution (more on that below).