Rokita Report - Balanced Budget for a Stronger America & More

Statement

Dear Friend,

Thank you for the opportunity to update you on the work of the 114th Congress. I trust this finds you and your family well, as we work together to bring Hoosier common sense to Washington.

A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America

This week, as Vice Chair of the House Budget Committee, I joined my colleagues to introduce A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America. Without increasing taxes and saving $5.5 trillion in federal spending, this budget would balance within a decade, faster than any of the recent House Republican budgets. This plan stands in contrast to the President's budget, which never balances - ever.

This budget is crucial to giving individuals, families, and job creators greater certainty for the future. It tells the American people that the House is ready to make the tough decisions and hold government accountable for how it spends hard-earned tax dollars.

Like previous House budget resolutions, this budget includes significant reforms in federal spending, including auto-pilot spending programs like Medicare and Medicaid. For the fourth year in a row, my Medicaid state flexibility proposal is included.

Here is a summary of what A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America would do for our country:

It Balances the Budget:

Balances the budget in less than 10 years without raising taxes

Cuts $5.5 trillion in spending -- higher than any previous House Budget Committee proposal

Calls for a fairer, simpler tax code to promote job creation and a healthy economy

Places the country on a path to paying off the debt by growing the economy and making government more
efficient, effective and accountable

Calls on Congress to pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution

Provides For a Strong National Defense:

Provides for a strong national defense through robust funding of troop training, equipment and compensation

Boosts defense spending above the president's levels while putting in place a plan to responsibly address

the current spending caps and the threat of sequester

Secures America's Future:

Ends the Obamacare raid on Medicare

Strengthens Medicare by making structural improvements to save the program

Eliminates the "double dipping" of Disability Insurance and Unemployment Insurance

Prevents the president's plan to raid the regular Social Security Trust Fund

Pushes Back Against Federal Overreach:

Repeals ObamaCare

Rejects the notion that Washington knows best and devolves power back to the states

Promotes innovation and flexibility for Medicaid, nutrition assistance, education and other programs

Cuts Waste, Corporate Welfare and Improves Accountability:

Cuts waste, eliminates redundancies and ends the practice of Washington picking winners and losers in our economy

Calls for reforms to the regulatory system to improve transparency, efficiency, effectiveness and accountability

A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America passed the committee on March 19th and now moves to the floor of the House for further consideration.

Protecting General Aviation

As regular readers of the Rokita Report know, I strongly support general aviation. As a member of the Transportation& Infrastructure Committee, the House General Aviation Caucus, and a commercially-rated pilot, I know this is an important industry to the American economy. The general aviation industry generates $6 billion every year to Indiana's economy. Recently, I introduced two bills related to aviation.

I'm continuing the effort we started last Congress to eliminate the Third Class Medical certificates for private pilots by reintroducing the General Aviation Pilot Protect Act. This bill allows a person with a valid pilot's license to operate as pilot-in-command of a small aircraft without a Third Class Medical, within specified parameters. Last Congress, this bill had 163 bipartisan cosponsors. Representatives Sam Graves (MO-6), Steve Pearce (NM-2), Collin Peterson (MN-7), Dan Lipinski (IL-3), Bill Flores (TX-17), Mike Pompeo (KS-4), and Richard Hanna (NY-22) joined me in reintroducing this bill. Sen. John Boozman (AR) reintroduced the bill in the Senate. So far a total of 22 members have signed on as consponsors.

The second bill is the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2. This legislation includes Third Class Medical reform, along with additional provisions to protect private pilots from liability on charitable flights, grant pilots the ability to directly appeal investigations to federal courts, and more. I coauthored this legislation, which was introduced by Rep. Sam Graves in the House and Sen. Jim Inhofe (OK) in the Senate. This bill follows up on the first Pilot's Bill of Rights which was signed into law in August 2012.

The General Aviation Pilot Protect Act and Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 would grow the general aviation community by reducing unnecessary red tape, holding federal agencies accountable, and protecting the rights of pilots. I look forward to advancing these reforms in the weeks and months ahead.

Stopping NLRB Overreach

On March 19, 2015, the House stood up to President Obama's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by a vote of 231 to 186.

In December, the NLRB finalized its ambush election rules. The rules change long-standing policies by squeezing the timeline between union election petition filings and elections, while also granting union organizers greater access to employees' personal information.

These ambush election rules would also end the long-standing 30 day waiting period. This consideration time period has allowed both sides of the debate time to present their cases and give employees the chance to learn about the impact of a decision with permanent consequences on their jobs.

Using the powers given to Congress under the Congressional Review Act, the House and Senate have both passed joint resolutions of disapproval to stop the NLRB from issuing this rule. The issue now goes to the President's desk.

Eliminating Union Obstacles to Merit-Based Pay

I have recently reintroduced the RAISE Act to empower American workers. This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow employees to earn merit-based compensation increases, even if those increases are not part of a collective bargaining agreement. If enacted, the RAISE Act would make wages set in union contracts a minimum floor, while giving employers the flexibility to reward diligent employees. Under current law, unless it is specified otherwise in a collective bargaining agreement, the wage in the union contract is both a minimum and a maximum.

The RAISE Act is pro-worker, common-sense legislation that helps end stagnant union wages by allowing employees in Indiana and across the country to earn higher pay. This bill could benefit up to 7.6 million American unionized workers, 2.8 million of whom are women.

Senator Marco Rubio (FL) has introduced identical legislation in the Senate.

Thank you for your continued interest in Congress and for supporting my efforts to bring Hoosier common sense to Washington. Take care.

Sincerely,

Todd Rokita

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