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.”

Consumer's Checkbook Health Guide Access & Discounts

NTEU members get free access to the Consumers’ Checkbook’s online guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees and Annuitants. This user-friendly, interactive guide allows FEHBP participants and prospective enrollees to rank and compare plans, as well as gauge plan features and flexibility based on doctor selection and other factors. It also provides information and plan comparisons for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program. Currently only 2017 plans are available. 2018 plans go live in the guide on November 13, 2017, the first day of federal benefits open season.

Also, NTEU members are eligible for a 30-percent discounted subscription to Consumers’ CHECKBOOK magazine, which rates local service providers for quality and price in seven local markets. They rate the best doctors, dentists, auto repair shops, plumbers, veterinarians, carpet cleaners, roofers and much more.

If you're already a member, thank you! If you're not, click here to join now and get your discounts!

Demands to Bargain

Whenever there's a change in working conditions NTEU has a right to bargain. Depending upon what type of change and how it's rolled out, we may be able to negotiate over the scope of the change.

Sometimes management has a legal right to implement a change, however, but they still are required to bargain what's called "implementation and impact." If an announced change will impact you, please contact Chapter 280 at info@nteu280.organd let us know more about the change and how you expect it to impact you.

Keep in mind that there are very tight timeframes for telling management that we demand to bargain. So do not delay in contacting us or it might be too late!

EPA Mistakenly Increases Parking Rates

If you park in the Reagan Building garage (as part of the HQs parking program), your parking costs are not supposed to increase for October. However, we have been contacted by members who informed us that the proposed new rates were nonetheless populated in the pay.gov system.

We notified EPA about this discrepancy and he told NTEU that EPA has been correcting the errors person-by-person for the NTEU bargaining unit (members and non-members). If you find that your bill for October has increased from last month (either as an individual parker or as part of a carpool) please let us know ASAP so we can notify management and get it corrected.
 
We have demanded to bargain the proposed increase and submitted initial proposals, but negotiations have not yet been scheduled. Until negotiations are concluded, there should be no change in the parking fees.

We will keep members informed of any progress and of course any final agreement with regard to this situation. Thanks to those of you who sent me comments, information, and suggested proposals. Feel free to continue to do that and I welcome any calls to further discuss this or any other issues.

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