Heritage Action Staff

At some point, the House could vote on the 21st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act (H.R. 2997), introduced by Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.). The bill would turn the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system into a standalone government-sanctioned, non-profit corporation and reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for fiscal years 2018-2023. While not perfect, the 21st Century AIRR Act represents a substantial improvement over American’s current aviation system that has fallen well behind our foreign counterparts due to excessive government regulation and a broken aviation finance system.

What does this bill do?

This bill ensures the food stamp program (SNAP) has meaningful work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) by:

• eliminating statewide or partial waivers from the ABAWD work requirement;
• shortening the three-month rule, which permits ABAWDs to receive food stamps without working or participating in other work activity, to one month;
• lowering the 15 percent exemption rule, which permits states to exempt 15 percent of ABAWDs each month from the work requirement,

Congress will return from August recess September 5th and have a mere 12 legislative days to address a number of “must pass” legislative priorities including the expiration of discretionary appropriations that must be renewed within the constraints of the Budget Control Act (BCA) for fiscal year 2018, the debt limit, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). On top of this, Congress will also need to provide significant funding for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

Congress will return from August recess September 5th and have a mere 12 legislative days to address a number of “must pass” legislative priorities including the expiration of discretionary appropriations that must be renewed within the constraints of the Budget Control Act (BCA) for fiscal year 2018, the debt limit, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). On top of this, Congress will also need to provide significant funding for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

Background: Back in 2013, the Obama administration’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) exempted members of Congress and their staff from the full burden of Obamacare by letting them enroll in the D.C. small business exchange to receive taxpayer subsidized plans, even though a small business was defined as fewer than 50 employees. Now, as millions of Americans continue to watch their health insurance premiums increase, members of Congress and their staffs remain exempt from the rising costs.

Earlier this year, Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) introduced the Employee Rights Act (H.R. 2723). This legislation would protect workers from union pressure by putting power in the hands of employees and making union leaders more accountable to their members.

For decades, and especially under the Obama administration, numerous rules that infringe on workers’ rights have been imposed on the American people. This is not only unproductive and wasteful in economic terms —