A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/982835
NATCA R esponse The OPM letter outlines the Administration's proposal to cut retirement benefits for federal employees in order to achieve cost savings, and the letter was sent to Congress for consideration. In order to avoid the proposal gaining any traction in t he House, NATCA started working the House leadership, members of Congress, and staff alongside federal employee coalitions. Republicans and Democrats started to come out in opposition to the plan. Last week, Rep. Mike Turner (R - OH) sent a letter to OPM urg ing the Director to rescind the proposal. Rep. Turner made the point that taking away retirement benefits from federal employees would make it harder to recruit the next generation, which is an important issue to NATCA as we work to address the current sta ffing crisis for air traffic controllers. Nevertheless, the Administration has made it clear that they want to see cuts to retirement benefits for federal employees in order to achieve cost savings and reduce the federal deficit. Further, the White House reportedly asked lawmakers to include the cuts during consideration of the FY 19 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill , which was marked up at the Armed Services Committee last week. NATCA's longstanding and strong bipartisan relationships with b oth Republicans and Democrats allowed us to quickly kick into action, contacting and working with a wide range of members of Congress and their staff on the Armed Services Committee to ensure that they were aware of how these proposed cuts would impact NAT CA members and asked those members of Congress to oppose any attempts to act on these cuts. The NLC was also on high alert, working in close collaboration with NATCA Government Affairs, prepared to act at a moment's notice as critical field efforts were ne cessary. In the end, lawmakers on the Armed Services declined to consider such attacks on the workforce. What should we do? Next week, NATCA will host our annual "NATCA in Washington" (see information below). Now more than ever it is important for NATCAv ists to engage with their members of Congress to voice their opposition to these types of proposals, which will continue to come up within the Administration and Congress. NATCA IN WASHINGTON NATCA is gearing up for this year's annual lobby week, "NATCA in Washington (NiW)" on Capitol Hill. This year, NATCAvists will be in Washington, D.C. from May 20 - 23. During the conference, participants will visit their members of Congress to discuss import ant topics affecting the NATCA membership, including attacks on federal employees, the status of FAA Reauthorization, and the unstable, unpredictable funding stream that has impacted the NAS. FA A REAUTHORIZATION – NEXT STEPS The House overwhelmingly pass ed H.R. 4, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, on Friday, April 27 by a vote of 393 - 13. The five - year, bipartisan bill authorizes $71 billion for the operations, F&E and RED accounts at the FAA from fiscal year (FY) 2019 through FY 2023. On the Sena te sid e, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell officially "started the clock" on H.R. 4, meaning that the bill can come to the Senate floor for consideration at any time. Chairman Thune on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is hoping to get a lo ng - term FAA Reauthorization bill passed in the Senate before the July 4th recess, but the timeline is fluid. It is possible that the Senate will take up the bill sometime between late May and early July. When H.R. 4 does come to the