Agency Operating Authority Expires Friday
An ongoing argument between House and Senate leaders over union
organizing rules at FedEx Express and Essential Air Services could
lead to a shutdown of the FAA if the most recent continuing
resolution funding the agency is allowed to expire on Friday.
Since September 30th, 2007, there have been 20 of the short-term
spending bills, known as "CRs", passed by the congress to keep the
agency operating ... albeit at 2007 funding levels. Lawmakers have
been unable to come to an agreement over how some airline and
railroad workers are allowed to unionize. But funding for some
small airports, some in states represented by Democratic leaders in
the Senate, is now also part of the mix.
The the twenty-first extension of Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) programs was introduced last Friday in the
House by Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman
John L. Mica (R-FL), Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri
(R-WI), and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI).
It has been over 7 and a half years since the last FAA
reauthorization was signed into law.
“It is unfortunate that we have
been put in this position, again, by the current Senate leadership
who refuse to negotiate in the best interest of the American
public,” Mica said. “When Democrats controlled the
House and Senate, Congress also failed to act, and unfortunately
Democrat tactics have not changed. Our nation’s aviation
system cannot operate effectively under the Senate’s ongoing
political gamesmanship.”
Mica continued, “House and Senate negotiations on the FAA
bill have resulted in significant progress over the last several
months. However, it is time for the Senate to put the safety of the
traveling public above their own political posturing and paybacks
to the labor movement. Clearly, some in the Senate have made a
political decision to put special interest labor provisions above
the safety of our nation’s aviation system.”
“The Essential Air Service provisions included in the
extension are limited reforms that target the most indefensible of
the subsidies,” Petri said. “We in Congress are trying
to find a way forward on addressing our deficit and long-term debt
issues, but if we can’t put an end to these extravagant
subsidies, then we will never be able to rein in spending where
really hard decisions are necessary. How can we justify subsidies
of over $1,000 per passenger, or subsidies for communities that are
located less than 90 miles from a hub airport? Should we be asked
to pay, in essence, $10 per mile in one particular case for someone
to avoid driving 82 miles to an airport? This is, in fact, some
limited common sense reform to end the most extreme of the EAS
subsidies.”
This 21st extension, H.R. 2553, maintains current funding levels
for the FAA, its employees, and airports across the country through
September 16, 2011. The extension also includes a common sense
Essential Air Service (EAS) reform provision, which the Senate
passed unanimously during Floor consideration earlier this year.
This provision, which was section 420 in the Senate’s FAA
bill, would limit EAS eligibility to communities that are located
90 or more miles from a large or medium hub airport. It also
includes a waiver should the Secretary of Transportation determine
that geographic characteristics result in undue difficulty
accessing the nearest medium or large hub. This modest reform,
already approved by the Senate this year, would eliminate 10 EAS
communities located within 90 miles of a medium or large hub
airport, resulting in $12.5 million in annual savings.
The extension also includes a pro-taxpayer cap on the EAS passenger
subsidy provided by the federal government. Setting the subsidy cap
at $1,000 per passenger eliminates three additional communities
from the EAS program and saves an additional $4.1 million on an
annual basis. The current per passenger subsidy rates for these
three airports are: Ely, Nevada, $3,720; Alamogordo/Holloman AFB,
New Mexico, $1,563; and Glendive, Montana, $1,358.
“Given the intransigence of the Senate, their inability to
move any piece of substantive legislation, and their unwillingness
to compromise, we are compelled to seek rational and modest reform
in this extension,” Mica added. “We hope they will pass
this extension and come to the table with a renewed sense of
purpose for ensuring the safety of our aviation system and passing
a long-term FAA reauthorization.”
But the bill was blasted by Senate Commerce, Science, and
Transportation committee chair Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who said
Tuesday said he is working to strip a provision in the House FAA
extension that hurts small communities nationwide. Rockefeller
(pictured, below) reiterated that the House proposed extension
cannot pass the Senate leaving open the possibility for a partial
agency shutdown if House Republican leaders do not reconsider their
position.
“Further efforts to add policy components to FAA
extensions that have not been negotiated with the Senate will
likely shut the FAA down,” Rockefeller wrote in a letter to
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), Chairman of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee. “You need to think about this very,
very carefully. Any consequences resulting from such an action will
fall squarely on your shoulders.”
Despite efforts to find a bipartisan compromise, Mica last week
announced a plan to cut funds for 13 communities that benefit from
Essential Air Service (EAS) as retaliation for the Senate’s
refusal to accept language on the National Mediation Board that
would adversely affect workers’ rights. Rockefeller has long
championed the EAS program, which provides a federal subsidy for
air carriers to operate out of mostly rural areas. Without this
important program, many communities nationwide would not have air
service. EAS supports air service to more than 100 communities
nationwide.
In his letter to Mica, Chairman Rockefeller strongly urged him to
reconsider his position by sending over a clean FAA extension and
appoint conferees for the FAA reauthorization bill, as the Senate
did in April, 2011.
The Associated Press reports that, in the event of an FAA
shutdown, the nation's 15,500 air traffic controllers would
continue to work, but other employees could be subject to
furloughs, and the agency would no longer have to collect the
approximately $60 per-round-trip ticket tax. How long employees
would be furloughed would depend largely on how much money is in
the federal trust fund for aviation account.