A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/982835
Senate floor for consid eration, the chamber will "strike" the House language from H.R. 4 and replace it with their language. Senate Outlook The Senate Commerce Committee marked up its FAA bill last June (S. 1405), but it has not come to the Senate floor for consideration yet. S enate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D - NY) could potentially hold up the bill because it is the only legislation moving forward with a tax title and he and other lawmakers may seek to add non - FAA - related tax measures to the bill. As a reminder, the House a nd Senate recess for the entire month of August, and the FAA Reauthorization extension expires Sept . 30. If a long - term bill is not signed into law before then, another short - term extension will be necessary in order to avoid a partial FAA shutdown. NATC A Impact NATCA supports H.R. 4, as passed in the House, and looks forward to continuing to work with the Senate to urge quick passage of a long - term reauthorization for the FAA. NATCA has highlighted the need for a stable, predictable funding stream that a dequately supports the following: air traffic control services, staffing, hiring and training, long - term modernization projects, preventative maintenance, ongoing modernization to the physical infrastructure, and the timely implementation of NextGen modern ization projects. FY 19 APPROPRIAT IONS The government is current operating under a $1.3 trillion omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 1625) that was signed into law in March to avoid a government shutdown. The legislation provides funding for the federal go vernment for this rest of this fiscal year (FY 18). See the chart below for updated funding levels for FAA programs. Now that a spending bill has been finalized for the rest of this fiscal year, appropriators have begun work on FY 2019 spending legislation and are moving quickly to advance spending bills. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) is holding a markup of FY 2019 THUD bill on May 16, while the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transpor tation, Housing and Urban Development is marking up their version of the FY 2019 THUD bill the week of June 4 - 8. FAA BUDGET LINE FY 2018 Enacted Operations $10.2 billion Facilities & Equipment $3.25 billion Research, Engineering & Development $188.9 billion Rescission Cuts On May 9, the Trump Administration proposed a sweeping $15.4 billion package of spending cuts that slices across 10 federal departments. The request now goes to the House Appropriations Committee, which will have 25 calenda r days to craft its own bill before other House members can act on their own to bring up rescissions legislation. If the House passes a bill, the package would be sent to the Senate for consideration where rescissions bills require only a simple majority f or passage. While the FAA and