Industry Headline News

Senate Passes FAA Extension Act Without Aviation User Fees

By Karen Di Piazza

Late Tuesday evening, the Senate passed a bill (H.R. 6984) that will keep the Federal Aviation Administration's doors open for business through March 31, 2009. The FAA Extension Act of 2008, via a voice vote, passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

The president is expected to sign the bill right away; current FAA authorization expires Sept. 30. The House passed the short-term FAA extension Tuesday morning, which allows the agency to continue collecting and spending tax revenues that keep the aviation system functioning. Aviation excise taxes, which support the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, will remain in force. In recent years, the trust fund has provided nearly 80 percent of the FAA's budget.

Once enacted, the bill will provide $1.95 billion in contract authority for the Airport Improvement Program. AIP funding for the first six months of fiscal year 2009 will enable airports to move forward with safety and capacity projects. When annualized, lawmakers said the level of AIP funding equals $3.9 billion, consistent with both the House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills, and the fiscal year 2009 concurrent budget resolution. The bill also includes $4.5 billion for FAA operations, which includes operating the nation's air traffic control system.

The previous long-term FAA reauthorization act, Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, expired on Sept. 30, 2007. On Sep. 20, 2007, the House passed bill H.R. 2881, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007, to reauthorize FAA funding through fiscal years 2008 through 2011. The Bush administration threatened to veto the bill, as the House booed aviation user fees. The Senate hasn't been able to agree on a long-term FAA reauthorization bill; some of its members sided with the airlines in pursuit of imposing a user-fee system, which would cripple the general aviation marketplace. As a result, Congress has passed a series of short-term FAA funding extension acts.

Further bickering on FAA funding will be left to the next White House administration.

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