By Rebekah Riess, CNN

(CNN) — As many travelers face long, winding security lines across the US during the partial government shutdown, many may not realize the complicated path money takes to reach Transportation Security Administration officers’ paychecks.

There are about 61,000 TSA employees currently caught in the middle as Congress remains locked in a stalemate over funding the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA. Considered essential workers, they must remain on the job at the nation’s more than 430 commercial airports during the shutdown, even though they won’t get paid until the lapse ends.

President Donald Trump said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will head to US airports Monday to help alleviate the strain on TSA workers if lawmakers don’t reach an agreement to fund DHS.

Many passengers don’t really know who pays TSA officers – whether it’s the federal government, airports or airlines – according to focus groups done by the US Travel Association, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates for the US travel industry.

How the agency is funded

TSA’s budget is funded in part by a fee you pay when booking your plane ticket. That passenger fee, also known as the September 11 Security Fee, was established by Congress in the aftermath of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. It is currently $5.60 per one-way trip and capped at $11.20 per round trip.

The fee is collected by the airline you book with and is itemized with taxes and carrier-imposed fees on your receipt. The airlines then pass along the fee revenue to TSA.

“The idea for the aviation security fee, the 9/11 fee, was that it would cover most, if not all, of the pay benefits and all the other things associated with the TSA budget,” former TSA Administrator John Pistole said. It was intended “to have the users of the services – that being passengers – pay for those services, rather than just a freebie from the government,” Pistole said.

The fee is key to covering the costs of air travel passenger security, including benefits and salary for federal screeners, along with programs like the Federal Air Marshals Service, the US Travel Association says.

Of the $4 billion-plus collected from passenger security fees each year, nearly all the revenue is deposited into the Treasury Department’s general fund. Only $250 million can be used directly by TSA to spend on a limited number of security costs.

And in 2013, the Bipartisan Budget Act directed that a portion of the security fee revenue be diverted to lower the federal budget deficit, rather than fund TSA operations.

The annual amount used for deficit reduction is typically about a third of the fees collected from passengers, Pistole said. In the 2023 fiscal year, for example, the total amount of security fee collections hi

CNN, POOL, WESH, SENATE TV, RYAN RICHTER, KARIM PINE, KYLE AUFFREY, TREY HOFFMAN, ATL.COM

By Rebekah Riess, CNN

(CNN) — As many travelers face long, winding security lines across the US during the partial government shutdown, many may not realize the complicated path money takes to reach Transportation Security Administration officers’ paychecks.

There are about 61,000 TSA employees currently caught in the middle as Congress remains locked in a stalemate over funding the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA. Considered essential workers, they must remain on the job at the nation’s more than 430 commercial airports during the shutdown, even though they won’t get paid until the lapse ends.

President Donald Trump said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will head to US airports Monday to help alleviate the strain on TSA workers if lawmakers don’t reach an agreement to fund DHS.

Many passengers don’t really know who pays TSA officers – whether it’s the federal government, airports or airlines – according to focus groups done by the US Travel Association, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates for the US travel industry.

How the agency is funded

TSA’s budget is funded in part by a fee you pay when booking your plane ticket. That passenger fee, also known as the September 11 Security Fee, was established by Congress in the aftermath of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. It is currently $5.60 per one-way trip and capped at $11.20 per round trip.

The fee is collected by the airline you book with and is itemized with taxes and carrier-imposed fees on your receipt. The airlines then pass along the fee revenue to TSA.

“The idea for the aviation security fee, the 9/11 fee, was that it would cover most, if not all, of the pay benefits and all the other things associated with the TSA budget,” former TSA Administrator John Pistole said. It was intended “to have the users of the services – that being passengers – pay for those services, rather than just a freebie from the government,” Pistole said.

The fee is key to covering the costs of air travel passenger security, including benefits and salary for federal screeners, along with programs like the Federal Air Marshals Service, the US Travel Association says.

Of the $4 billion-plus collected from passenger security fees each year, nearly all the revenue is deposited into the Treasury Department’s general fund. Only $250 million can be used directly by TSA to spend on a limited number of security costs.

And in 2013, the Read more

CNN, POOL, WESH, SENATE TV, RYAN RICHTER, KARIM PINE, KYLE AUFFREY, TREY HOFFMAN, ATL.COM

By Rebekah Riess, CNN

(CNN) — As many travelers face long, winding security lines across the US during the partial government shutdown, many may not realize the complicated path money takes to reach Transportation Security Administration officers’ paychecks.

There are about 61,000 TSA employees currently caught in the middle as Congress remains locked in a stalemate over funding the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA. Considered essential workers, they must remain on the job at the nation’s more than 430 commercial airports during the shutdown, even though they won’t get paid until the lapse ends.

President Donald Trump said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will head to US airports Monday to help alleviate the strain on TSA workers if lawmakers don’t reach an agreement to fund DHS.

Many passengers don’t really know who pays TSA officers – whether it’s the federal government, airports or airlines – according to focus groups done by the US Travel Association, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates for the US travel industry.

How the agency is funded

TSA’s budget is funded in part by a fee you pay when booking your plane ticket. That passenger fee, also known as the September 11 Security Fee, was established by Congress in the aftermath of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. It is currently $5.60 per one-way trip and capped at $11.20 per round trip.

The fee is collected by the airline you book with and is itemized with taxes and carrier-imposed fees on your receipt. The airlines then pass along the fee revenue to TSA.

“The idea for the aviation security fee, the 9/11 fee, was that it would cover most, if not all, of the pay benefits and all the other things associated with the TSA budget,” former TSA Administrator John Pistole said. It was intended “to have the users of the services – that being passengers – pay for those services, rather than just a freebie from the government,” Pistole said.

The fee is key to covering the costs of air travel passenger security, including benefits and salary for federal screeners, along with programs like the Federal Air Marshals Service, the

* WHAT…Temperatures between 96 and 94 expected.

* WHERE…San Luis Obispo County Beaches, San Luis Obispo County
Inland Central Coast, Santa Barbara County Central Coast Beaches,
Santa Barbara County Inland Central Coast, Santa Lucia Mountains,
and Santa Ynez Valley.

* WHEN…From 10 AM this morning to 8 PM PDT Tuesday.

* IMPACTS…There is a high risk for heat illness for sensitive
populations including the very young, the very old, those without
air conditioning, and those active outdoors.
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of
the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in
shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat
should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an
emergency! Call 9 1 1.

The post Heat Advisory issued March 23 at 12:19AM PDT until March 24 at 8:00PM PDT by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Análisis por Stephen Collinson, CNN

El presidente Donald Trump dijo el viernes que estaba considerando “reducir” su guerra con Irán. Pero un día después, amenazó con “obliterar” las plantas eléctricas del país, en una escalada que podría descontrolar aún más el conflicto.

Los mensajes erráticos sobre una guerra que entra en su cuarta semana se están convirtiendo en un patrón.

Trump había exigido previamente que los aliados enviaran barcos para reabrir el estrecho de Ormuz, un cuello de botella vital para la exportación de petróleo. Cuando estos se negaron, dijo que no quería ayuda y los tildó de cobardes por no sumarse a una guerra a la que se oponían. Y antes de exigir que Irán reabriera el estrecho en 48 horas o enfrentara un ataque devastador contra sus plantas eléctricas, insistió en que en algún momento “se abriría por sí solo”.

Estos bandazos subrayan la importancia vital del estrecho y el impacto de un cierre que ha dejado varados a decenas de petroleros, ha creado una crisis de precios de la energía y ha amenazado con empujar a la economía global hacia una recesión que podría perjudicar a millones de personas.

Pero Trump ha llegado a un momento en el que la confusión retórica y las amenazas contradictorias no pueden ocultar las consecuencias de sus decisiones. Puede estar a punto de poner a prueba si escalar el conflicto puede, de algún modo, señalar una salida o si empeorará las consecuencias económicas y políticas que ya le cuesta controlar.

A corto plazo, el presidente se trazó a sí mismo una enorme nueva línea roja, sin indicios de que Irán vaya a ceder ante su plazo respecto a su amenaza de atacar barcos que transiten por el estrecho; su principal punto de apalancamiento en el conflicto.

Si el presidente ordena un ataque contra las plantas, es probable que desencadene las represalias iraníes más intensas hasta ahora, lo que podría pulverizar los mercados mundiales de petróleo. Si no actúa y el estrecho permanece cerrado, permitirá que los líderes de Irán demuestren que pueden desafiar el poderío militar de Estados Unidos e Israel pese a estar en clara desventaja militar.

Atacar las plantas eléctricas podría aumentar la presión sobre las fuerzas armadas revolucionarias de Irán, que controlan gran parte de la infraestructura civil. Pero también correría el riesgo de desatar una crisis humanitaria en un país que ya enfrenta una profunda privación. Los hospitales, el suministro de agua y el saneamiento requieren un suministro eléctrico fiable.

En un sentido más amplio, el nuevo dilema de Trump está alimentando la preocupación y las críticas de que carece de una estrategia o de un objetivo final para una guerra que inició sin consultar al Congreso ni convencer al pueblo estadounidense de sus costos.

“No tienen visión, no tienen plan, no tienen estrategia de salida. Está claro que no anticiparon algunas de las cosas que han ocurrido, incluido el cierre del estrecho de Ormuz”, dijo en CNN el líder de la minoría demócrata en la Cámara de Representantes, Hakeem Jeffries, en “State of the Union” el domingo.

Otra escalada casi con seguridad empeoraría las repercusiones globales de un conflicto impopular en el plano interno. Aunque la guerra puede contar como una victoria estratégica para Estados Unidos e Israel, dada la destrucción causada por semanas de ataques con misiles y bombardeos aéreos, los dos aliados corren el riesgo de perder la dimensión política y económica del conflicto.

“El