Senate Leaders Unveil Temporary Funding Bill With Three-Month Extension of FAA Programs and Taxes
September 26, 2023
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) on September 26 unveiled a bipartisan measure to fund the federal government through November 17 and extend FAA programs and excise taxes for three months through the end of the calendar year. Senate leaders hope to move the measure - which also includes funding for disaster relief and aid for Ukraine, and extends programs related to health care, federal wildland firefighting, and food assistance programs - through the chamber and send it to the House in the next few days. A section-by-section summary of the Senate continuing resolution (CR) is available along with text of the legislation.
The situation in the House of Representatives to fund the federal government beyond September 30 remains fluid and completely uncertain. House lawmakers are slated to take a key procedural vote on a package of four individual appropriations measures this evening, but previous efforts to move forward with individual spending bills have failed. Even if the House does manage to move to consider and pass these four bills, they are dead on arrival in the Senate and do not fund the entirety of the federal government. It is unclear if Speaker McCarthy will allow for a House vote on a Senate-passed CR given continued opposition from conservative Republicans. Expect continued drama in the House this week and into the weekend as efforts to avert a shutdown continue.
On the FAA extension front, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders have indicated that they want to move a clean, stand-alone three-month measure soon as well, and committee staff today said that introduction is imminent. Committee leaders in the House and Senate have been working closely on the details of the extension, and it is our understanding that the specifics, which are included in the Senate bill and described below, have been agreed to by all sides. If the House is able to take up and pass a clean FAA extension, it is unclear if Senate leaders would consider it as a stand-alone measure given the fact that they have opted to tackle the extension as part of the broader effort to fund the government beyond September 30 with the CR. So, expect more drama on the extension as well.
Details of FAA Extension
The Senate CR extends aviation excise taxes and trust fund expenditure authority through the end of the calendar year. It also extends for three months the authorization and funding at FY23 levels on a prorated basis for FAA operations ($2.9 billion); AIP ($842 million); facilities and equipment ($740 million); research, engineering, and development ($64 million); Essential Air Service ($89 million) and the Small Community Air Service Development Program ($2.5 million). The measure also authorizes $140 million for supplemental AIP discretionary grants, consistent with the final level of funding approved in FY23 for that purpose. Notably, the extension also provides that AIP allocations for primary airports will be based on best of calendar year (CY) 2018, CY 2019, or CY 2022 enplanements.
Additionally, the measure extends a number of expiring authorities for: war risk insurance; the UAS Test Site Program; certain drone operations; the evaluation of counter-UAS at five airports; airport competition plans; AIP grants for the Marshall Islands, Micornesia, and Palau; grants for the use of land areas around large and medium hub airports compatible with aircraft operations; the Non-Movement Area Surveillance Pilot Program; FAA weather reporting programs ($9.8 million); contract weather observers; the remote tower pilot program; Midway Island; airport access roads in remote locations; the UAS Remote Detection and Identification Pilot Program; the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection; Aviation Consumer Advocate; the Advisory Committee on Air Travel Needs for Passengers with Disabilities; and a pilot program for the redevelopment of certain airport properties, among others.
The Senate CR also extends Counter-UAS authorities for the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security until November 18.
Stay tuned for further updates on the bumpy road ahead.
