The Good, the Bad of Reauthorization Bills ...

... passed by the U.S. House (H.R.2881) and Senate (S.1300) are worth a look. For those in the business of airports, the proposed increases by both houses for the Airport Improvement Program is a big plus. Both propose funding AIP at $15.8 billion over four years. The infrastructure debate still to be settled is at what level to set passenger facility charges (PFCs). The House proposes an increase to $7; the Senate wants to stay at $4.50, while introducing a pilot program that would allow up to six airports to have no limit when setting the cap.  Interestingly, the actual funding of the system – the ‘user fee’ debate – in essence fell on deaf ears in Congress. The airlines pushed hard; business aviation pushed back. Airports sat on the sidelines. In the end, Congress did not see a reason to change. In the intense Democrats vs. Republicans environment that is Washington today, the reality seems to be that when it comes to aviation funding, neither side bought the FAA (or ATA) argument. Now comes the fun part – getting each bill to the floor and passed; working out a subsequent compromise on the differences; and getting the President to sign the final legislation. T.J. Schulz, vice president with the Airport Consultants Council (a group that lives and breathes AIP levels) comments: “The month of July is going to be very important, as far as the effort to get this overall bill done. We expect the House to likely consider the FAA reauthorization bill on the House floor sometime this month.  “The sticky part, though, will be the Senate. It appears at this time that it is pretty unlikely that they will be able to bring up the FAA bill on the Senate floor -- it certainly won’t be until after the August recess. So, you’re looking at the beginning of September and a whole plate of legislative issues, including most of the annual spending bills. It’s going to be a tough challenge.â€Â Also, the Senate Finance Committee has yet to review and sign off on that body’s bill.  Regarding the ability to get the bill done by September 30, the end of the federal fiscal year, Schulz says, “We have to assume there might be some delay; hopefully, no more than a month or so.â€Â Thanks for reading.  jfi