Shutdown Averted: Congress Passes Spending Bill

The Grinch has been stopped at the border. January 19 is the next showdown.

Thursday night Congress averted a government shutdown, but only temporarily. According to Roll Call, "the Senate voted 66-32 to clear a continuing resolution that would fund the government through Jan. 19, provide funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and community health centers through March 31, appropriate $2.1 billion for a private care access program for veterans and temporarily extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act until Jan. 19."  

This comes on the heels of the House's vote earlier. The bill now heads to the President's desk. The President is expected to sign the bill.

We'll be back at this brinkmanship come mid-January. Stay tuned.......

Budget CR/Update: December Shutdown Unlikely; Next Showdown in January

From a friend of NTEU Chapter 280.....

“After House Republicans decided late last night against proceeding with their defense-only cromnibus, it looks like NDD and DOD both will be extended at current levels through January 19th. I have been told there are a few goodies for defense in this deal, but it is not a full-year defense appropriation.

It is not yet clear what - if any - deal has been struck to adjust the BCA caps in this CR to avoid a sequester in mid-January. At that time, current level funding will exceed the BCA-specified FY 2018 discretionary caps for both NDD and DOD. It is this BCA mid-January sequester deadline that led Congressional leaders to choose Jan 19th as the expiration date for the pending CR.

This deadline will force Congress to develop and pass some form of an amendment to the BCA. This amendment could adjust discretionary spending caps for all the remaining years of the BCA, not just FY 2018. For this reason, it is urgent that we keep up our demand for NDD parity.

It was concern about disaster aid that brought down the House Republican defense-only cromnibus bill. Some of the key R votes needed to pass the $81 billion aid + cromnibus package balked at adding so much to the deficit. Leaders have since decided to move the disaster aid package separately as stand-alone legislation.

There is language that provides price support for a certain type of cotton in the House disaster bill. Some Senators want price supports for dairy products as well, so the aid package is still being negotiated.

The NSA surveillance reauthorization, or any extension of it, is set to move separately also.

While this last minute defense funding retreat by House Republicans probably avoids a pre-Christmas government shutdown, it sets the stage for another confrontation between defense and NDD in January. Dems may have more leverage at that point because the surveillance and disaster aid elements will have been dealt with. At least that’s the plan. However, those items may be delayed by a month also, in which case the complex mix of issues complicating agency funding will continue.

The major issue remaining in the pending CR is whether the Alexander-Murray (AM) bill can be added successfully to what is now a more routine funding extension House Republican opposition to AM without specific prohibitions on abortion is poised to sink McConnell’s deal with Collins. Even Collins does not want this disagreement to force a shutdown.”

House Committee Passes EPA Budget Bill

Today the U.S. House of Representatives Interior & Environment Committee passed a funding bill for EPA, the Department of the Interior, and related agencies. The bill provides EPA a bit more than $7.5 billion, a 6.6% cut. Coupled with the 1% cut for fiscal year 2017, EPA would be down 7.6% if the bill passes and is signed into law.

There some question about whether the EPA funding bill will pass Congress. Legislators are still discussing an "omnibus" spending bill, that would lump all the non-defense agencies together. No telling what would come out of that process.

We'll keep you posted!

Congressional Letter in Support of Feds

Yesterday, 102 Members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), strongly opposing the assaults on federal pay and retirement contained in the administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget proposal.

Calling the administration’s proposals that impact the take-home pay and retirement benefits for current federal employees and retirees “destructive,” the legislators asked both congressional leaders to block any effort to bring such proposals to the House floor for votes. They pointed out that no other group has been asked to sacrifice more for deficit reduction than the federal workforce.

Federal employees have already been deprived of $182 billion in pay and benefits. The FY 2018 budget would add another $149 billion in cuts.

We appreciate these members’ support in fighting to stop pay and retirement cuts, and for holding Congress accountable to keep its promises to its workforce and retirees. Clearly, these members of Congress recognize the valuable service provided by our members to the nation. NTEU will continue to work with these members to “oppose any effort to balance the budget on the backs of public servants,” as the legislators wrote in their letter. 

To learn more about the budget and legislation, please visit the NTEU legislative action center.

Administrator Pruitt to Testify on Proposed Cuts at EPA

According to Politico, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will testify before the House Appropriations Interior-EPA subcommittee on Thursday, June 15 at 1 p.m. The Committee's website confirms this here.

According to Politico, "appropriators have already indicated they will not cut away EPA's budget as severely as the White House's proposal, particularly on state grants and popular programs cleaning up the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay and other regions."

Of course, even if the cuts are half as bad as what is proposed, a 15% cut could be devastating to EPA's programs, personnel, and ultimately environmental protection.

Shutdown Averted: Congress Passes Spending Bill

From NTEU National.....

“The Senate today followed the House in approving a [spending package] to fund the federal government though the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. The president is expected to sign the measure before funding expires Friday night. Passage of this bipartisan spending bill eliminates the threat of another government shutdown for the next five months.

While NTEU is pleased that the $18 billion in cuts originally proposed were not part of the final agreement, many federal agencies remain underfunded and understaffed after several years of cuts and inadequate funding. 

As the debate shifts to the fiscal 2018 congressional budget, NTEU is pressing for adequate and stable funding for the federal government so that agencies have the resources they need and federal employees are not left anxious with another shutdown countdown.”

In the passed spending bill, the Environmental Protection Agency received an $81.4 million decrease from fiscal year 2016 (FY16). EPA was operating on a continuing resolution, allowing it to spend at FY16 levels. The $81.4 million budget cut amounts to approximately a 1% spending reduction.

Rally Photo Gallery

Our members rallied on the U.S. Capitol grounds with other NTEU chapters. Below you can look through the photos. If you have other photos we can post, please email them to joe@nteu280.org.

Get Your NTEU Chapter 280 T-Shirt

Click the flyer, above, to download a PDF version to hang in your cube or share with friends.

We've got these slick new t-shirts sporting the NTEU Chapter 280 logo. It's an opportunity to show off your pride at being part of our Chapter.

How do you get one? Bargaining unit employees (members and non-members) who attend the Legislative Rally on March 2 from 11:30 - 12:30 will get one, if they pre-register. The rally happens on the U.S. Capitol's west front lawn. T-shirts are available on a first-come, first-served basis, so pre-register quickly to ensure you get one. But you must show up to get your reserved t-shirt!

Click the flyer image on the right to download and print out the rally flyer. And don't forget to pre-register to ensure you get a t-shirt by or filling out the form, below.