FMA wrote about the FY21 NDAA in its monthly “Hear It from FMA” column in FEDManager.com. Below is an updated version of the article that originally ran on July 7.

One of the most critical bills the Federal Managers Association advocates on every year is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). First passed in 1961 – and consistently passed every year since – the NDAA is indispensable legislation that authorizes funding levels for the Department of Defense (DOD) and sets policies. The 116th Congress is in the middle of considering the Fiscal Year 2021 NDAA (S. 4049 / H.R. 6395), and FMA is once again scrutinizing the details of how the legislation would affect federal managers, if enacted. We are pleased that numerous FMA priorities are included in the current versions of the legislation.

The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced its version of the bill on June 10, by a vote of 25-2, and the full Senate began consideration of the bill on June 29. S. 4049 authorizes a topline of $740.5 billion for national defense for FY21. It includes a 3.0 percent pay raise for uniformed service members in 2021.

Among the provisions of interest to FMA, the Senate version includes:

• A one-year extension of temporary authority to grant allowances, benefits, and gratuities to civilian personnel on official duty in a combat zone (sec. 1111)

• A pilot program on enhanced pay authority for certain high-level management positions in the Department of Defense (sec. 1107)

• Expansion of direct hire authority for certain Department of Defense personnel to include installation military housing office positions supervising privatized military housing (sec. 1105)

• Technical amendments to authority for reimbursement of federal, state, and local income taxes incurred during travel, transportation, and relocation (sec. 1113)

It is also important to note President Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA if it includes language requiring the renaming of U.S. military bases honoring confederate commanders, as currently included in the Senate version of the bill. We are keeping a close watch on developments on that front.

House Armed Services Subcommittees marked up the House version during the week of June 22, and the full House Armed Services Committee (HASC) considered the bill on Wednesday, July 1. The House bill authorizes nearly $732 billion in topline funding, and also provides for a 3.0 percent pay raise for military service members. HASC favorably reported the bill to the full House by a unanimous vote of 56-0. 

Some of the provisions in the House bill FMA is monitoring include:

• Family and Medical Leave Amendments (sec. 1101): making technical corrections to the paid parental leave benefit provided by the FY20 NDAA (P.L. 116-92), to cover Federal Aviation Administration employees, Department of Veterans Affairs employees, and others inadvertently omitted.

• Exercise of Delegated Authority under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (sec. 1102): Requires a report from the Secretary of Defense to congressional defense committees “describing the conditions under which the Secretary would exercise the authority under 7103(b) of title 5, United States Code, delegated to the Secretary by the President on January 29, 2020.” Section 7103(b) allows Secretary of Defense the authority to exclude Pentagon “agencies or subdivisions thereof” from the law guaranteeing federal workers the right to unionize. 

• Limiting the Number of Local Wage Areas Defined within a Pay Locality (sec. 1106): prohibiting the Office of Personnel Management from including more than one local wage area within a General Schedule pay locality in order to align Federal Wage System Areas with General Schedule locality pay areas.

• Creation of a “Pandemic Preparedness and Resilience National Security Fund,” giving $1 billion to “efforts to proactively increase the country’s ability to prepare for and respond to future pandemics.”

FMA will continue to evaluate amendments and advocate on behalf of federal managers as S. 4049 and H.R. 6395 make their way through the legislative process. Visit www.fedmanagers.org for the latest information on the work of the Federal Managers Association.