Senate Approves Short-Term Extension of FAA Authorization

On Aug. 5, the Senate approved legislation to extend the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization through Sept. 16, ending a two-week partial shutdown. The Senate, even though it went into a month-long summer recess after Tuesday's vote to clear a debt ceiling bill, held a "pro forma" session last Friday morning to approve the legislation by unanimous consent and President Obama signed it into law. The shutdown resulted in 4,000 FAA employees being furloughed, 200 FAA-funded construction projects being halted and prevented an additional $2.5 billion of Airport Improvement Program-funded construction projects from moving forward. The lack of authorization also prevented the collection of the airplane ticket tax, which funds the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, resulting in a loss of an estimated $400 million in trust fund revenue during the two-week shutdown. The vote, however, does little more than put off the disagreements among lawmakers over the broader reauthorization of the FAA, which has been stalled over labor issues as well as funding levels and subsidies to rural airports. This means the FAA may face a similar shutdown threat when this short-term extension expires on Sept. 16. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid struck the deal with the administration after AGC, other stakeholders and the general public began questioning why lawmakers were allowing the shutdown to continue while Congress was on break.   FAA’s authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2007, and for the ensuing four years has been kept in operation through a series of 20 short-term extensions. The House measure, which the Senate agreed to last week, contains a provision eliminating Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidies for 13 rural airports. Several senators had objected to including that policy change in a short-term authorization extension, but finally agreed to accept it in exchange for a pledge that Transportation Secretary LaHood will use his authority to waive the EAS eliminations, maintaining the status quo for rural airports -- except those in Ely, Nev.; Alamogordo, N.M.; and Glendive, Mont., whose loss of subsidies cannot be waived because they exceed $1,000 per passenger. AGC will continue to work towards passage of a multiyear FAA reauthorization bill. You can send a message to your legislators through AGC’s web site urging Congress to complete action on this long overdue legislation. For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.