On Tuesday, AGC sent letters to the House and Senate urging passage of a multi-year aviation authorization bill to avoid further disruption to a construction industry that is already reeling from a steady decline in market opportunities which has resulted in the loss of 2.2 million construction jobs. The effort was made necessary after Congress failed to pass a short term extension of authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). FAA authorization expired on September 30, 2007, and Congress has passed 20 short term extensions of authorization to keep the agency and its programs operating. An impasse over service to rural airports and some labor provisions has led to a roadblock which has prevented the legislation from moving forward. The House passed legislation for a 21st extension that included a labor provision and cuts in service to rural airports which the Senate objected to, and therefore, did not adopt the measure.
Lack of authorization has resulted in the furlough of 4,000 FAA employees, the expiration of authority to collect the airline ticket tax which funds the aviation trust fund, stop work orders on a multitude of ongoing construction projects funded through FAA’s Airport Improvement Program and preventing local airports from moving forward with an additional $2.5 billion in pending FAA funded construction contracts.
AGC called the Congressional inaction irresponsible and pointed out the depression-like conditions in the industry as construction spending reached an 11-year low and publicly funded construction skidded 12 percent in the past eight months. AGC said, “A multi-year aviation bill will add certainty to the market; ensuring the best choices will be made to prioritize investment decisions.” No effort has been made thus far by the House to send the Senate a “clean” extension to allow FAA programs to move forward.
For more information, please contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.
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