The Week Ahead in Aviation: House Democrats to Unveil Broad Outline of Infrastructure Plan
January 24, 2020
Impeachment might be the talk of the town in Washington right now, but House Democrats will try next week to get another I-word into newspaper headlines: infrastructure.
While the Senate forges ahead with long workdays and Saturday sessions to continue the impeachment trial, House Democrats plan to unveil a broad outline of their infrastructure proposal. In addition, the House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday to discuss "paving the way for funding and financing infrastructure investments."
Although lawmakers from both parties have pointed to infrastructure as an area where Republicans and Democrats could conceivably work together, there has been little progress on a "big and bold" infrastructure package under the Trump Administration. Talks last year between congressional Democrats and the White House over an infrastructure package fell apart due to tensions over the Russia investigation.
There are major hurdles to Congress passing a comprehensive infrastructure bill this year: The two sides remain far apart on the broad outline of an infrastructure package, and partisan tensions in Washington remain high as the impeachment trial continues and the November election approaches.
As the infrastructure debate goes on, AAAE continues to urge Congress to raise the federal cap on local Passenger Facility Charges, increase Airport Improvement Program funding and take other steps to help airports finance much-needed upgrades. The case for a PFC update and increased airport investment was bolstered by the recent release of an independent study conducted by RAND.
With 2020 shaping up to be yet another busy year in the nation's capital for aviation policy, funding and security-related issues, we hope you can join us March 5-6 for the AAAE/ACI-NA Washington Legislative Conference, where key lawmakers and senior Administration officials will address attendees.
Updates from This Week
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a second confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in the United States. CDC, working with DHS, is currently screening all travelers originating from Wuhan, China, to five U.S. airports (SFO, JFK, LAX, ATL, and ORD). CDC, DHS and DOT provided updates to AAAE and the aviation community about the virus this week and are scheduled to hold another call next week.
- DOT released proposed changes to the regulations governing the transportation of service animals in aircraft. Most notably, DOT proposed to narrow the definition of service animal to include only dogs that have been trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of the individual with disability. AAAE will be soliciting feedback from members in the coming weeks to provide input to the department. See our Regulatory Alert for more information.
- The FAA issued interim, internal guidance on the streamlined procedures for reviewing applications received from small-, medium-, or large-hub airports to impose and/or use PFCs. While the guidance will significantly reduce the amount of time for FAA to review a number of PFC applications, FAA excluded certain projects from the new streamlined review process, a move that will limit the potential advantages to airports. There is more in our Regulatory Alert.
- DHS said that states have collectively issued more than 95 million REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses and identification cards (34 percent) out of 276 million total cards, based on the most recent data reported by states. That is up from the 67 million REAL ID-compliant cards (27 percent) out of a total 249 million total cards previously reported in the fall. DHS, TSA, AAAE and airports continue to urge travelers to get a REAL ID-compliant card before the Oct. 1, 2020, deadline. Additional information and resources can be found on the TSA REAL ID website.
Please contact Adam if you have any questions or need additional information. Have a great weekend.
