Airport Alert: White House Releases More Details on Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request
March 14, 2023
Since unveiling an initial summary late last week, the White House has released more details on its Fiscal Year 2024 budget request. The additional information sheds light on the administration's proposed funding levels for specific program within the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security. Keep in mind that the Congress - particularly the Republican-controlled House - will have very different ideas on overall spending levels and priorities.
From the airport perspective, the administration's FY24 budget request is a mixed bag. It proposes the usual $3.35 billion for the traditional Airport Improvement Program (AIP). But the White House plan does not include additional funding for supplemental discretionary grants, which lawmakers used in the FY23 appropriations process to fund more than $558.6 million in congressional earmarks and other airport infrastructure projects.
On the DHS front, the White House is proposing to fund more than 2,000 additional Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to meet rising demand. However, the budget request again calls for transitioning TSA's responsibility for staffing exit lanes to airports - a move that would save the agency more than $111 million next year - as well as eliminating funding for LEO reimbursement grants and airport LEO canine teams. We will continue to urge Congress to reject these cost-shifting proposals.
Below are key highlights of the administration's FY24 budget request.
Department of Transportation
Overall, total discretionary appropriations for the Department of Transportation in the administration's FY24 budget request would be $807 million below the amount approved for FY23.
Federal Aviation Administration
The White House plan includes a total of $19.8 billion for the FAA 'to support critical staffing needs and invest in the modernization of essential systems for the Federal Aviation Administration.'
Airport Improvement Program
Traditional AIP Funding: The administration is proposing $3.35 billion for traditional AIP funding in FY24 - the same as the current funding level. Of that amount, $157.4 million would go toward personnel costs, $15 million for the Airport Cooperative Research Program, and $41.8 million for Airport Technology Research.
Supplemental AIP Funding: The administration is not requesting any funding for supplemental discretionary grants in FY24. The FY23 omnibus spending package included $558.6 million for supplemental AIP discretionary grants. Lawmakers fenced off $283.6 million of that amount for congressional earmarks.
Funding for Other FAA Programs
Operations: The White House proposal includes more than $12.7 billion for FAA operations -- almost $826 million above the current level. Under the administration's plan, more than $9.9 billion of that amount would come from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.
Facilities and Equipment: The administration is proposing almost $3.5 billion for FAA Facilities and Equipment in FY24 - $517 million above the current level.
Research, Engineering, and Development: The White House is proposing $255.1 million for FAA's Research, Engineering, and Development - a slight increase from the current level.
Small Community Programs
Contract Towers: As expected, the administration's budget does not include a specific requested funding amount for the Contract Tower Program. The final FY23 spending bill included $187.8 million in for the Contract Tower and Contract Tower Cost-Share programs.
Like the administration's FY23 budget request, its FY24 plan outlines the criteria and other qualifications that the FAA is using to evaluate FAA-owned towers for possible replacement. Using these criteria and qualifications, the agency is evaluating 31 Tier 3 and Tier 4 FAA-owned towers for replacement including 22 at contract tower airports. (See pages 621 through 624 for details.)
Essential Air Service: The administration's budget request includes $348.6 million in appropriated funds for the EAS program. Coupled with an expected $154.4 million from overflight fees, total funding for EAS would rise to about $503 million in FY24.
Small Community Air Service Development: Based on the limited documents available, it does not appear that the administration is requesting funds for the Small Community Air Service Development Program in FY24. Funding for the program traditionally comes from the AIP account.
FAA Reauthorization
The budget request reveals the administration's priorities for the next FAA reauthorization bill and indicates that DOT is working to 'define and present specific proposals that respond to the changing aviation landscape….' According to DOT's budget highlights, the administration's key priorities include:
• 'Enhancing aviation safety;
• Addressing the maintenance and modernization of the national airspace system;
• Making long-term investments to reduce emissions, deliver on climate action, and enhance resiliency;
• Continuing to safely integrate drones, advanced air mobility, and commercial space operations into the national airspace system;
• Fostering an aviation workforce built on equity, diversity, and inclusion;
• Advancing global aviation safety and innovation by collaborating with international partners; and
• Expanding consumer protection by improving accessibility for passengers in wheelchairs, ensuring families are seated together on commercial aircraft, and enhancing competition.'
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 (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and critical infrastructure cybersecurity efforts. This level is one percent less than the discretionary resources provided in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill.
Unfortunately, this request proposes to eliminate TSA funding for a number of security programs and shift those costs to airports. It would also significantly reduce funding for new security technologies.
Transportation Security Administration
The administration is requesting a total of $10.9 billion for TSA, which is $1.6 billion above the FY23 enacted level. However, this increase is based on an assumption that the aviation security passenger fees currently being diverted to deficit reduction will remain with TSA. As highlighted in our previous Airport Alert about the FY24 budget, 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.
After factoring out fees, the net discretionary funding requested for TSA is $6.2 billion, $245 million below the FY23 enacted level. Key funding items include:
TSA Pay Parity Increase: The budget proposes $1.4 billion to fully fund pay parity efforts first funded in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill to ensure that the TSA workforce is compensated at rates comparable with their peers in the Federal workforce. TSA will begin implementing pay parity on July 1, 2023. Funding these efforts for one-quarter of the fiscal year is estimated to cost $316 million; an additional $1.1 billion is required in FY24 to meet these obligations for a full year.
Additional Transportation Security Officers: The budget includes $197.1 million to recruit and retain more than 2,039 additional TSOs to meet an anticipated 4.5 percent increase in passenger volume while ensuring adherence to passenger wait time expectations and maintaining security effectiveness.
Eliminates Funding for TSA to Staff Airport Exit Lanes: Once again, the budget proposes transitioning access control at exit lanes from TSA to airports, saving the agency $111 million and 1,285 FTEs. TSA states that 'staffing exit lanes is not a screening function, but rather falls under the purview of state and local control authorities.' For this transition to occur, the administration will need to provide legislation for Congress to approve because the Bipartisan Budget Act required TSA to continue its responsibility to monitor airport exit lanes from the sterile area of the airport at those locations where TSA monitored them on December 1, 2013. TSA currently provides coverage of 228 exit lanes at 106 airports.
Eliminates Funding for Law Enforcement Officer Reimbursement Grants: The budget proposes to eliminate $45.9 million that partially reimburses about 290 airports for their law enforcement personnel who support passenger screening checkpoints throughout the United States. TSA justifies the elimination of these grants because 'law enforcement is the responsibility of local and state jurisdictions.' The budget request acknowledges that 'elimination of this Federal funding will likely result in the termination of enhanced law enforcement support at many airports that currently participate in the LEO Reimbursement Program.' The budget justification continues and notes that this reduction in funding 'will not exempt airports from providing law enforcement services as agreed to in the ASPs, and as such, in the event of a security incident, law enforcement must still respond and provide support in accordance with the relevant ASP.'
Eliminates Canine Reimbursement Program: The request seeks to eliminate stipends for the 675 state and local LEO-operated canine teams, saving the agency $34.1 million. The budget explains that TSA does not own these teams, which are 'allocated to airports, mass transit, and maritime facilities across the Nation…. and does not have primary law enforcement responsibility at these locations.' To mitigate this reduction, the agency would offer the option for current LEO participants to convert to a recently established 'No Cost Other Transaction Agreements (OTA)' in which the participant fully funds the operations of their canine teams but continues to receive TSA training and certification. Under this new OTA agreement, locals would still be responsible for maintaining training standards and response times outlined within the agreement. TSA will continue to fund its 422 federal-led passenger screening canine teams.
Reduces Funding for Checkpoint Security Technologies: The budget requests $70.4 million for the Checkpoint Property Screening System program to procure and deploy 86 Computed Tomography (CT) systems at airport checkpoints nationwide. CT technology permits TSOs to better identify and detect threats in accessible property. This amount is $35 million less than what was provided in FY23. The budget provides no explanation for the funding reduction of a technology that the TSA Administrator has previously labeled as critical to detect complex and evolving threats against aviation.
Credential Authentication Technology (CAT): The budget proposes $11 million to procure the next generation of CATs, known as CAT-2, which compares a traveler's photo on the identification credential against the in-person, real-time photo taken at the checkpoint. Funding will also be for upgrade kits to enhance previously fielded CAT systems.
National Deployment Office Travel Expenses: The budget includes $10 million to fund increased travel costs for TSOs that are deployed nationwide on short notice to airports with staffing shortages, for a crisis, or for special events.
REAL ID Program: With a May 7, 2025, enforcement date for acceptance of REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses at the TSA security checkpoint, the budget requests an increase of $22.9 million for TSA to manage and administer the REAL ID program. As of January 2023, only 53 percent of all state-issued driver's licenses and ID cards are REAL IDs.
Cybersecurity: To address the dramatic growth in cyber threats, the budget requests an increase of $10.4 million for TSA to support the aviation and surface sectors and to conduct critical support functions to reduce these threats in both the mid- and long-term.
Insider Threat: The request includes $3.8 million to mature TSA's insider threat program and for enhancements to improve tracking, monitoring, analyzing, and reporting of potential insider threats throughout the transportation system.
Customer Service: The budget places a renewed focus on improving the delivery of government services. At TSA, the agency will design, implement, measure, and report on targeted customer experience improvements to transform passengers and the agency's workforce experience at airports.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
The administration is proposing $16.5 billion in net discretionary funding for CBP, which is $1.6 billion below the FY23 enacted level. The budget contains scant details about airport priorities. Instead, it focuses on the agency's border security efforts and a new contingency plan to deal with migration surges along the Southwest border. Highlights include:
CBP Officers: The request includes $77.4 million for additional border management staff, including 150 new CBP officers; however, these officers will not be deployed to airports but instead will bolster situation awareness along the border. In theory, hiring these new officers should reduce the number of officers temporarily reassigned from airports and seaports to assist with migration surge activities along the Southwest border.
Overtime: The White House proposes to continue the per-person overtime cap at $45,000 in FY24, consistent with prior years' limitations.
Additional Information:
· Budget Highlights
· DHS Budget in Brief
· DOT Budget Highlights
· DOT Budget Estimates
Since unveiling an initial summary late last week, the White House has released more details on its Fiscal Year 2024 budget request. The additional information sheds light on the administration's proposed funding levels for specific program within the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security. Keep in mind that the Congress - particularly the Republican-controlled House - will have very different ideas on overall spending levels and priorities.
From the airport perspective, the administration's FY24 budget request is a mixed bag. It proposes the usual $3.35 billion for the traditional Airport Improvement Program (AIP). But the White House plan does not include additional funding for supplemental discretionary grants, which lawmakers used in the FY23 appropriations process to fund more than $558.6 million in congressional earmarks and other airport infrastructure projects.
On the DHS front, the White House is proposing to fund more than 2,000 additional Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to meet rising demand. However, the budget request again calls for transitioning TSA's responsibility for staffing exit lanes to airports - a move that would save the agency more than $111 million next year - as well as eliminating funding for LEO reimbursement grants and airport LEO canine teams. We will continue to urge Congress to reject these cost-shifting proposals.
Below are key highlights of the administration's FY24 budget request.
Department of Transportation
Overall, total discretionary appropriations for the Department of Transportation in the administration's FY24 budget request would be $807 million below the amount approved for FY23.
Federal Aviation Administration
The White House plan includes a total of $19.8 billion for the FAA 'to support critical staffing needs and invest in the modernization of essential systems for the Federal Aviation Administration.'
Airport Improvement Program
Traditional AIP Funding: The administration is proposing $3.35 billion for traditional AIP funding in FY24 - the same as the current funding level. Of that amount, $157.4 million would go toward personnel costs, $15 million for the Airport Cooperative Research Program, and $41.8 million for Airport Technology Research.
Supplemental AIP Funding: The administration is not requesting any funding for supplemental discretionary grants in FY24. The FY23 omnibus spending package included $558.6 million for supplemental AIP discretionary grants. Lawmakers fenced off $283.6 million of that amount for congressional earmarks.
Funding for Other FAA Programs
Operations: The White House proposal includes more than $12.7 billion for FAA operations -- almost $826 million above the current level. Under the administration's plan, more than $9.9 billion of that amount would come from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.
Facilities and Equipment: The administration is proposing almost $3.5 billion for FAA Facilities and Equipment in FY24 - $517 million above the current level.
Research, Engineering, and Development: The White House is proposing $255.1 million for FAA's Research, Engineering, and Development - a slight increase from the current level.
Small Community Programs
Contract Towers: As expected, the administration's budget does not include a specific requested funding amount for the Contract Tower Program. The final FY23 spending bill included $187.8 million in for the Contract Tower and Contract Tower Cost-Share programs.
Like the administration's FY23 budget request, its FY24 plan outlines the criteria and other qualifications that the FAA is using to evaluate FAA-owned towers for possible replacement. Using these criteria and qualifications, the agency is evaluating 31 Tier 3 and Tier 4 FAA-owned towers for replacement including 22 at contract tower airports. (See pages 621 through 624 for details.)
Essential Air Service: The administration's budget request includes $348.6 million in appropriated funds for the EAS program. Coupled with an expected $154.4 million from overflight fees, total funding for EAS would rise to about $503 million in FY24.
Small Community Air Service Development: Based on the limited documents available, it does not appear that the administration is requesting funds for the Small Community Air Service Development Program in FY24. Funding for the program traditionally comes from the AIP account.
FAA Reauthorization
The budget request reveals the administration's priorities for the next FAA reauthorization bill and indicates that DOT is working to 'define and present specific proposals that respond to the changing aviation landscape….' According to DOT's budget highlights, the administration's key priorities include:
• 'Enhancing aviation safety;
• Addressing the maintenance and modernization of the national airspace system;
• Making long-term investments to reduce emissions, deliver on climate action, and enhance resiliency;
• Continuing to safely integrate drones, advanced air mobility, and commercial space operations into the national airspace system;
• Fostering an aviation workforce built on equity, diversity, and inclusion;
• Advancing global aviation safety and innovation by collaborating with international partners; and
• Expanding consumer protection by improving accessibility for passengers in wheelchairs, ensuring families are seated together on commercial aircraft, and enhancing competition.'
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 (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and critical infrastructure cybersecurity efforts. This level is one percent less than the discretionary resources provided in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill.
Unfortunately, this request proposes to eliminate TSA funding for a number of security programs and shift those costs to airports. It would also significantly reduce funding for new security technologies.
Transportation Security Administration
The administration is requesting a total of $10.9 billion for TSA, which is $1.6 billion above the FY23 enacted level. However, this increase is based on an assumption that the aviation security passenger fees currently being diverted to deficit reduction will remain with TSA. As highlighted in our previous Airport Alert about the FY24 budget, 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.
After factoring out fees, the net discretionary funding requested for TSA is $6.2 billion, $245 million below the FY23 enacted level. Key funding items include:
TSA Pay Parity Increase: The budget proposes $1.4 billion to fully fund pay parity efforts first funded in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill to ensure that the TSA workforce is compensated at rates comparable with their peers in the Federal workforce. TSA will begin implementing pay parity on July 1, 2023. Funding these efforts for one-quarter of the fiscal year is estimated to cost $316 million; an additional $1.1 billion is required in FY24 to meet these obligations for a full year.
Additional Transportation Security Officers: The budget includes $197.1 million to recruit and retain more than 2,039 additional TSOs to meet an anticipated 4.5 percent increase in passenger volume while ensuring adherence to passenger wait time expectations and maintaining security effectiveness.
Eliminates Funding for TSA to Staff Airport Exit Lanes: Once again, the budget proposes transitioning access control at exit lanes from TSA to airports, saving the agency $111 million and 1,285 FTEs. TSA states that 'staffing exit lanes is not a screening function, but rather falls under the purview of state and local control authorities.' For this transition to occur, the administration will need to provide legislation for Congress to approve because the Bipartisan Budget Act required TSA to continue its responsibility to monitor airport exit lanes from the sterile area of the airport at those locations where TSA monitored them on December 1, 2013. TSA currently provides coverage of 228 exit lanes at 106 airports.
Eliminates Funding for Law Enforcement Officer Reimbursement Grants: The budget proposes to eliminate $45.9 million that partially reimburses about 290 airports for their law enforcement personnel who support passenger screening checkpoints throughout the United States. TSA justifies the elimination of these grants because 'law enforcement is the responsibility of local and state jurisdictions.' The budget request acknowledges that 'elimination of this Federal funding will likely result in the termination of enhanced law enforcement support at many airports that currently participate in the LEO Reimbursement Program.' The budget justification continues and notes that this reduction in funding 'will not exempt airports from providing law enforcement services as agreed to in the ASPs, and as such, in the event of a security incident, law enforcement must still respond and provide support in accordance with the relevant ASP.'
Eliminates Canine Reimbursement Program: The request seeks to eliminate stipends for the 675 state and local LEO-operated canine teams, saving the agency $34.1 million. The budget explains that TSA does not own these teams, which are 'allocated to airports, mass transit, and maritime facilities across the Nation…. and does not have primary law enforcement responsibility at these locations.' To mitigate this reduction, the agency would offer the option for current LEO participants to convert to a recently established 'No Cost Other Transaction Agreements (OTA)' in which the participant fully funds the operations of their canine teams but continues to receive TSA training and certification. Under this new OTA agreement, locals would still be responsible for maintaining training standards and response times outlined within the agreement. TSA will continue to fund its 422 federal-led passenger screening canine teams.
Reduces Funding for Checkpoint Security Technologies: The budget requests $70.4 million for the Checkpoint Property Screening System program to procure and deploy 86 Computed Tomography (CT) systems at airport checkpoints nationwide. CT technology permits TSOs to better identify and detect threats in accessible property. This amount is $35 million less than what was provided in FY23. The budget provides no explanation for the funding reduction of a technology that the TSA Administrator has previously labeled as critical to detect complex and evolving threats against aviation.
Credential Authentication Technology (CAT): The budget proposes $11 million to procure the next generation of CATs, known as CAT-2, which compares a traveler's photo on the identification credential against the in-person, real-time photo taken at the checkpoint. Funding will also be for upgrade kits to enhance previously fielded CAT systems.
National Deployment Office Travel Expenses: The budget includes $10 million to fund increased travel costs for TSOs that are deployed nationwide on short notice to airports with staffing shortages, for a crisis, or for special events.
REAL ID Program: With a May 7, 2025, enforcement date for acceptance of REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses at the TSA security checkpoint, the budget requests an increase of $22.9 million for TSA to manage and administer the REAL ID program. As of January 2023, only 53 percent of all state-issued driver's licenses and ID cards are REAL IDs.
Cybersecurity: To address the dramatic growth in cyber threats, the budget requests an increase of $10.4 million for TSA to support the aviation and surface sectors and to conduct critical support functions to reduce these threats in both the mid- and long-term.
Insider Threat: The request includes $3.8 million to mature TSA's insider threat program and for enhancements to improve tracking, monitoring, analyzing, and reporting of potential insider threats throughout the transportation system.
Customer Service: The budget places a renewed focus on improving the delivery of government services. At TSA, the agency will design, implement, measure, and report on targeted customer experience improvements to transform passengers and the agency's workforce experience at airports.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
The administration is proposing $16.5 billion in net discretionary funding for CBP, which is $1.6 billion below the FY23 enacted level. The budget contains scant details about airport priorities. Instead, it focuses on the agency's border security efforts and a new contingency plan to deal with migration surges along the Southwest border. Highlights include:
CBP Officers: The request includes $77.4 million for additional border management staff, including 150 new CBP officers; however, these officers will not be deployed to airports but instead will bolster situation awareness along the border. In theory, hiring these new officers should reduce the number of officers temporarily reassigned from airports and seaports to assist with migration surge activities along the Southwest border.
Overtime: The White House proposes to continue the per-person overtime cap at $45,000 in FY24, consistent with prior years' limitations.
Additional Information:
· Budget Highlights
· DHS Budget in Brief
· DOT Budget Highlights
· DOT Budget Estimates
