WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt today warned that new construction projects will not begin and many will be delayed if Congress is unable to work out its differences and pass a clean extension of the FAA Reauthorization bill.
“Congress needs to do its work. If they can’t pass a bill, local construction workers throughout the nation will see their projects and paychecks come to a halt. This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world,” said Secretary LaHood.
The current FAA reauthorization expires at midnight this Friday, July 22, 2011. Congress has extended the FAA’s authorization 20 separate times without controversy. Without an extension, FAA will be unable to move forward on important airport construction projects that include good paying jobs for local communities across the country.
The Airport Improvement Program, which provides construction project grants to airports, will be shut down and unable to provide roughly $2.5 billion for airport projects in all 50 states that could put thousands of people to work in good paying jobs. A detailed breakdown of this funding by state is below.
“Controversial provisions in the House passed bill are needlessly threatening critical FAA programs and jeopardizing thousands of public and private sector jobs. I urge Congress to resolve its differences so we do not have to needlessly furlough employees who are performing valuable work for the public,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. Without another extension, up to 4,000 FAA employees in 35 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico will be furloughed and forced to go without pay. Large numbers of employees in New Jersey, New York, California, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, Illinois and the District of Columbia will be affected. This includes many of FAA’s engineers, scientists, research analysts, administrative assistants, computer specialists, program managers and analysts, environmental protection specialists, and community planners. A detailed list of states where employees will be furloughed is below.
In addition, without this legislation, approximately $200 million a week in airline taxes will not be collected or deposited into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF).
States Facing Loss of Construction Dollars
Alaska 69,700,000
Alabama 32,400,000
Arkansas 25,900,000
American Samoa 3,500,000
Arizona 35,100,000
California 131,500,000
Colorado 34,200,000
Connecticut 4,700,000
District of Columbia 300,000
Delaware 800,000
Florida 88,000,000
Georgia 67,100,000
Guam 2,000,000
Hawaii 21,300,000
Iowa 41,100,000
Idaho 17,500,000
Illinois 90,300,000
Indiana 19,400,000
Kansas 41,900,000
Kentucky 18,700,000
Louisiana 33,500,000
Massachusetts 17,900,000
Maryland 9,100,000
Maine 12,700,000
Michigan 36,400,000
Minnesota 36,200,000
Missouri 24,600,000
Northern Mariana Islands 2,200,000
Mississippi 34,600,000
Montana 18,700,000
North Carolina 45,600,000
North Dakota 22,800,000
Nebraska 21,900,000
New Hampshire 3,700,000
New Jersey 44,700,000
New Mexico 25,400,000
Nevada 36,000,000
New York 62,600,000
Ohio 38,900,000
Oklahoma 54,800,000
Oregon 16,500,000
Pennsylvania 28,300,000
Puerto Rico 15,900,000
Rhode Island 1,100,000
South Carolina 30,700,000
South Dakota 25,700,000
Tennessee 34,700,000
Texas 72,100,000
Utah 10,100,000
Virginia 40,500,000
Virgin Islands 2,200,000
Vermont 4,800,000
Washington 37,900,000
Wisconsin 25,300,000
West Virginia 10,800,000
Wyoming 15,900,000
TOTAL 1,700,200,000*
*This does not include $800,000 in discretionary funding.
States Where FAA Employees Will Be Furloughed
ALASKA
ARIZONA
CALIFORNIA
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HAWAII
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
KANSAS
MARYLAND
MASSACHUSETTS
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
MISSOURI
MONTANA
NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
NORTH DAKOTA
OHIO
OKLAHOMA
PENNSYLVANIA
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
UTAH
VIRGINIA
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
PUERTO RICO
