FAA employees would get back pay under new bill

The Federal Aviation Administration employees furloughed for about two weeks when Congress failed to approve a funding extension for the agency would get paid for their involuntary time off under a bill introduced Aug. 9 by Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.).

The Furloughed FAA Employees Compensation Act  would provide the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood the authority to pay the salaries and benefits of about 4,000 feds who were furloughed during a partial FAA shutdown that began July 23. Congress passed and the president signed a bill that ended the shutdown on Aug. 5.

“For the past two weeks, it was important to get these workers back on the job,” said LoBiondo. “Now my focus is to get them back pay and to ensure this avoidable situation never happens again.”

The proposal, which would draw funding for the back pay from the Aviation Trust Fund, also had the support of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), according to LoBiondo’s office. Other co-sponsors of the bill include Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), Jon Runyan (R-N.J.), and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).