CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
July 20, 2011 – 6:42 p.m.
Dispute Over FAA Extension Heats Up; Programs Set to Expire Friday
By Kathryn A. Wolfe, CQ Staff
The House and Senate are proceeding along different tracks to keep the aviation system running in the short term, and the acrimony generated might complicate efforts to reach agreement on a long-term reauthorization.
The House passed a bill Wednesday (
One of those provisions, which affects how far airports must be from medium- or large-hub airports to qualify for the subsidies, has already been endorsed in the Senate’s long-term FAA reauthorization bill. But another provision is a non-starter in the Senate: It would exclude from the program any airport that needs a per-passenger subsidy exceeding $1,000.
In response, Sens.
The measure is being “hotlined” in the Senate, but because revenue bills must originate in the House, it will be a largely symbolic gesture.
Trading Blame
It has been a particularly acrimonious 24 hours, with Rockefeller, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and
“Certainly, I don’t want the FAA to close down at midnight on Friday night,” Mica said on the House floor, noting that safety-critical employees will not be affected. “There may be some people furloughed, but it is not my fault. It will be the responsibility of the other body who does not take this up and pass it.”
Mica also questioned why Senate Democrats would be willing to risk a shutdown to protect thousands of dollars’ worth of subsidized air fares for three communities — one in Montana, one in Nevada and one in New Mexico.
“You’re telling me they are going to close down parts of the FAA to preserve this subsidy when this nation again is on the verge of financial debt crises unheard of in the history of our nation,” Mica said.
In a letter to Mica dated July 19, Rockefeller suggested that his counterpart think “very, very carefully” and said the consequences of a shutdown “will fall squarely on your shoulders.”
Vince Morris, Rockefeller’s communications director, said Rockefeller is disappointed that the House tried to “jam” the Senate.
“Since the House tried to gain leverage in the negotiations by striking a symbolic amount of EAS funding, the Senate will ignore that trick and move forward with trying to pass a clean funding extension,” Morris said.
Dispute Over FAA Extension Heats Up; Programs Set to Expire Friday
He added that the House bill “sets a terrible precedent for bipartisanship, for the conference process and for the spirit of compromise.”
The extension — the latest in a series stretching over years — is necessary because lawmakers have not reconciled differing provisions in their multi-year reauthorization bills (
There are several issues remaining to be worked out, but perhaps none more difficult than a provision included in the House-passed bill that would repeal a 2010 National Mediation Board rule that makes it easier for airline and railway employees to unionize.
It is unclear exactly how the legislative standoff will play out.
Since the Senate’s short-term extension bill is mostly symbolic, movement will require the chamber taking up the House extension, stripping out the EAS provisions and sending it back, or acquiescing and simply clearing the bill as-is.
Or the House could blink first and pass another bill, without the controversial provisions, for the Senate to clear.
Whether any of this will happen before midnight Friday remains an open question.
Assuming the logjam can eventually be cleared, if another extension is required past September it may be just as painful — or more so. Mica promised Wednesday that he will move the full reauthorization bill by attaching pieces of it to each subsequent extension. “I’m putting everybody on notice,” he said.