The Armed Services YMCA has been awarded a one-year contract renewal to continue providing physical fitness and respite child care services at no cost to eligible U.S. military personnel and their families.

The nonprofit group will extend its Military Outreach Program for the agency through March 2017, the Defense Department said Friday.

Rosemary Williams,  deputy assistant defense secretary for military community and family policy, noted the initiative reflects the department’s commitment to help geographically dispersed military families.

“This initiative is especially valuable for those living in areas distant from a military installation, allowing them to access services in their own communities,” Williams added.

The Defense Department‘s proposed fiscal 2017 budget would fund procurement of Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter planes for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps over the next five fiscal years, Reuters reported Friday.

Andrea Shalal writes the Air Force has requested money to purchase up to 243 F-35s through fiscal 2021.

The military branch plans to defer orders for about 45 jets in order to finance its Long Range Strike Bomber development and KC-46A tanker aircraft programs, Shalal reports.

The Navy and Marine Corps seek to buy as many as 97 F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing planes as well as 64 carrier-based F-35Cs, the report said.

Keith Hall, director of the Congressional Budget Office, told House Budget Committee members Thursday the agency has forecast the U.S. deficit will grow over the next 10 fiscal years if the current government spending authority and a package of tax cut extensions remain unchanged.

Hall said in a written testimony CBO projects a cumulative 10-year federal deficit of $8.5 trillion, about $1.5 trillion more than the projection the agency made six months ago.

“Half of that increase stems from the effects of laws enacted since August — especially the extension of tax provisions that reduce corporate and individual income taxes,” he told the committee.

“About 30 percent of the increase is caused by changes in the economic forecast.”

“The remainder of the increase is primarily in our estimates of outlays.”

He noted that overall federal spending is projected to increase by $2.5 trillion from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2026 and nearly half of that increase will be driven by Social Security and Medicare investments.

CBO also forecasts government revenues will remain stable relative to the size of U.S. economy in the next 10 fiscal years, Hall added.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has introduced a bill that seeks to privatize the U.S. air traffic control system amid what he calls “inefficient” modernization efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration, USA Today reported Wednesday.

Bart Jansen writes that Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said the proposed Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act would protect the air traffic control system from potential budget uncertainty.

“[The problems] will only get worse as passenger levels grow and as the FAA falls further behind in modernizing the system,” the lawmaker said, according to the report.

Jansen reports that supporters believe the bill aims to help accelerate the upgrade of air traffic control equipment and changes in flight path, while some lawmakers and groups have expressed concerns over oversight, accountability and costs.

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists said Wednesday it opposes the proposed privatization due to its potential impact on FAA’s ongoing modernization program.

“It is paramount to ensure that the FAA has a consistent and adequate funding stream,” PASS said in the joint statement with the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

“However, this does not require changing the entire structure and turning it over to a private corporation to make funding and governing decisions,” they said.