Airport Alert: Biden Administration Unveils Fiscal Year 2024 Budget
March 9, 2023
President Biden on March 9 unveiled very high-level budget details for fiscal year 2024 (FY24). His request proposes increases in both defense and nondefense spending in FY24, reductions that would decrease deficits by nearly $3 trillion over a decade, and raising payroll and investment income to help extend Medicare's solvency. The proposed increase in nondefense spending is a sharp contrast from the draconian cuts House Republicans are pushing for in FY24. These differences will kick off what is expected to be a contentious debate between Democrats and Republicans over spending priorities and deficit reduction this year.
Today's 182-page budget release only provides summary information. AAAE expects federal agencies to release detailed explanatory documents next week, and we will provide additional information about key priorities as they become available. For example, details on proposed funding for the Airport Improvement Program and other critical airport priorities are not included in the budget documents released today.
The House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees have already begun holding hearings on the FY24 request, which provide lawmakers with an opportunity to question administration officials about their plans before the subcommittees begin crafting their own spending bills. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairs have indicated that they are 'pressing forward' as quickly as possible to write their FY24 spending bills and consider them in Committee later this spring.
Department of Transportation
The administration's FY24 budget request includes approximately $144.9 billion in total spending for the Department of Transportation.
Aviation Consumer Protection Activities: Within DOT, the administration is requesting a $3 million increase to bolster aviation consumer protection activities, an issue that has garnered increased attention from Congressional Democrats as well. This includes hiring staff and funding information technology system enhancements to reduce the backlog of aviation consumer complaints, expedite rulemaking, and increase outreach and enforcement.
Federal Aviation Administration
The White House plan includes a total of $16.5 billion in discretionary budget authority for the FAA 'to continue the hiring and training surge of air traffic controllers started in 2023 to rebuild the pipeline of new controllers needed to meet projected traffic demands.'
Facilities and Equipment: The administration is proposing $3.5 billion, an increase of $500 million, to invest in the facilities and systems that comprise the National Airspace System (NAS), to address maintenance and modernization and to ensure the NAS continues to safely accommodate the growth in traditional commercial aviation traffic alongside new entrants from the commercial space, unmanned aircraft, and advanced air mobility industries. This mirrors calls by Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen in a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing regarding the January outage of the FAA's NOTAM system for increased funding from Congress to modernize outdated air traffic control systems.
The overview of FAA funding also notes that resources are provided to complement the $5 billion already provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for 2024 to upgrade the FAA's air traffic control facilities and to improve the safety, capacity, accessibility, and efficiency of the Nation's airports.
Aircraft Certification and Safety Oversight: The proposed budget also includes continued investment in FAA's multiyear effort of reforming aircraft certification, as well as increasing its safety oversight capabilities.
Department of Homeland Security
The administration is proposing a discretionary budget of $60.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security in FY24, including funding for the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and critical infrastructure cybersecurity efforts.
Transportation Security Administration
Aviation Passenger Security Fee: The budget assumes that $1.6 billion in passenger aviation security fee collections will remain with TSA rather than funding deficit reduction. Terminating the deficit reduction contribution mandated by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 requires the House and Senate authorizing committees, which have jurisdiction over fee collections, to enact this change into law before the Appropriations Committees can act on this budget assumption. Efforts in Congress to end the diversion of aviation security fees have been unsuccessful to this point due to the problem of finding an offset to replace the fee revenue. This budget proposal will face the same challenge.
TSA Pay Parity: The budget proposes $1.4 billion to continue pay parity efforts first funded in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill so that the TSA workforce is compensated at rates comparable with their peers in the Federal workforce. The FY23 omnibus included approximately $300 million for pay parity.
President Biden's FY24 budget summary and several fact sheets are available online.
President Biden on March 9 unveiled very high-level budget details for fiscal year 2024 (FY24). His request proposes increases in both defense and nondefense spending in FY24, reductions that would decrease deficits by nearly $3 trillion over a decade, and raising payroll and investment income to help extend Medicare's solvency. The proposed increase in nondefense spending is a sharp contrast from the draconian cuts House Republicans are pushing for in FY24. These differences will kick off what is expected to be a contentious debate between Democrats and Republicans over spending priorities and deficit reduction this year.
Today's 182-page budget release only provides summary information. AAAE expects federal agencies to release detailed explanatory documents next week, and we will provide additional information about key priorities as they become available. For example, details on proposed funding for the Airport Improvement Program and other critical airport priorities are not included in the budget documents released today.
The House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees have already begun holding hearings on the FY24 request, which provide lawmakers with an opportunity to question administration officials about their plans before the subcommittees begin crafting their own spending bills. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairs have indicated that they are 'pressing forward' as quickly as possible to write their FY24 spending bills and consider them in Committee later this spring.
Department of Transportation
The administration's FY24 budget request includes approximately $144.9 billion in total spending for the Department of Transportation.
Aviation Consumer Protection Activities: Within DOT, the administration is requesting a $3 million increase to bolster aviation consumer protection activities, an issue that has garnered increased attention from Congressional Democrats as well. This includes hiring staff and funding information technology system enhancements to reduce the backlog of aviation consumer complaints, expedite rulemaking, and increase outreach and enforcement.
Federal Aviation Administration
The White House plan includes a total of $16.5 billion in discretionary budget authority for the FAA 'to continue the hiring and training surge of air traffic controllers started in 2023 to rebuild the pipeline of new controllers needed to meet projected traffic demands.'
Facilities and Equipment: The administration is proposing $3.5 billion, an increase of $500 million, to invest in the facilities and systems that comprise the National Airspace System (NAS), to address maintenance and modernization and to ensure the NAS continues to safely accommodate the growth in traditional commercial aviation traffic alongside new entrants from the commercial space, unmanned aircraft, and advanced air mobility industries. This mirrors calls by Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen in a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing regarding the January outage of the FAA's NOTAM system for increased funding from Congress to modernize outdated air traffic control systems.
The overview of FAA funding also notes that resources are provided to complement the $5 billion already provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for 2024 to upgrade the FAA's air traffic control facilities and to improve the safety, capacity, accessibility, and efficiency of the Nation's airports.
Aircraft Certification and Safety Oversight: The proposed budget also includes continued investment in FAA's multiyear effort of reforming aircraft certification, as well as increasing its safety oversight capabilities.
Department of Homeland Security
The administration is proposing a discretionary budget of $60.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security in FY24, including funding for the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and critical infrastructure cybersecurity efforts.
Transportation Security Administration
Aviation Passenger Security Fee: The budget assumes that $1.6 billion in passenger aviation security fee collections will remain with TSA rather than funding deficit reduction. Terminating the deficit reduction contribution mandated by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 requires the House and Senate authorizing committees, which have jurisdiction over fee collections, to enact this change into law before the Appropriations Committees can act on this budget assumption. Efforts in Congress to end the diversion of aviation security fees have been unsuccessful to this point due to the problem of finding an offset to replace the fee revenue. This budget proposal will face the same challenge.
TSA Pay Parity: The budget proposes $1.4 billion to continue pay parity efforts first funded in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill so that the TSA workforce is compensated at rates comparable with their peers in the Federal workforce. The FY23 omnibus included approximately $300 million for pay parity.
President Biden's FY24 budget summary and several fact sheets are available online.
