House Passes FAA Reauthorization

The House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 223-196, H.R. 658, the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011. Among other things, H.R. 658 keeps the passenger facility charge cap at $4.50 (as the current Senate bill does) and cuts Airport Improvement Program funding to $3 billion per year, which is $500 million less than the current appropriated level and over $1 billion less than the Senate bill. The Airport Improvement Program is the primary source of federal funding for airport capital projects. The four-year authorization must now be reconciled with the Senate passed FAA reauthorization bill in conference before it is sent to President Obama. Accordingly, this week the House and Senate passed and the president signed the 18th short-term extension of the current authorization. This latest extension will hopefully give the House and Senate negotiators plenty of time come to an agreement on a final bill. However, this may be easier said than done. The House-passed bill includes a labor union related item that could hinder the bill from becoming law. In fact, the president has issued a veto threat based on the language in the House-passed bill. The language in question rescinds a National Mediation Board ruling requiring a majority of aviation and rail workers vote ‘yes’ in order to certify a union as an official representative of those workers. The old rule effectively counted all nonvoting employees as ‘no’ votes. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) has pledged to fight to keep this language in the bill through conference. Mica’s commitment, the White House veto threat, and Senate Democrats’ propensity to support stronger union organizing tactics makes the end game for the FAA reauthorization uncertain. For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.