Senate Takes Up FAA Authorization

The Senate has taken up the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill as its first major piece of legislation for the 112^th Congress. FAA authorization expired on September 30, 2007 and the program has been operating under a series of 17 short term extensions ever since. Both the House and Senate passed reauthorization measures last year but were unable to reconcile differences in their respective bills before the 111^th Congress expired. Rather than start from scratch, the Senate took up the bill that was passed last year by a 93-0 vote as its starting point. The two year authorization would increase funding to the Airport Improvement Program to $4 billion in FY 2011 and FY 2012 up from its current level of $3.5 billion. The legislation would increase jet-fuel taxes from 21.9 cents per gallon to 36 cents primarily to fund improvements in the air traffic control system. The cap on the passenger facility charge (PFC), which is used to fund capital improvements at airports, would remain at $4.50. Last year’s House version of the bill would increase the PFC cap to $7.00. Because a long list of amendments has been proposed, the legislation is likely to be under consideration for several days. This bill was used as the vehicle for consideration of repeal of last year’s health care legislation (see story above). The bill also served as a test vote on the repeal of Davis Bacon when Kentucky Senator Rand Paul offered an amendment tonight that would have removed Davis Bacon requirements from construction projects funded by programs administered by the Federal Aviation Administration. The amendment failed today by a vote of 42 to 55. For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.