Airport Alert: House Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY21 DOT Spending Bill
The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee today approved a Fiscal Year 2021 spending bill for the Department of Transportation that proposes almost $6.4 billion for airport infrastructure, funding for small community programs, and a $2.8 million increase for the Contract Tower Program.
During today's session, Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Price (D-NC) told his colleagues that "we are facing an infrastructure crisis exacerbated by the pandemic." He pointed out that bill includes an emergency title that contains $75 billion for "major infrastructure investments across housing and transportation programs."
Ranking Member Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL) commended the Chairman for putting together a "thoughtful" and "responsible" bill. But he took issue with the proposed $75 billion in emergency infrastructure spending, which he argued is "outside last year's bipartisan budget agreement and puts the entire regular appropriations process at risk."
Airport Funding: As we reported yesterday, the House bill proposes a significant boost in airport infrastructure funding. It includes $3.35 billion for the traditional Airport Improvement Program and an additional $500 million for supplemental discretionary grants. In the past three years, Congress has provided $1.8 billion in supplemental discretionary AIP grants for airports -- $1 billion in FY18, $500 million in FY19 and $400 million in FY20.
The FY21 spending bill also includes $2.5 billion for airport infrastructure investments as part of a $26 billion plus-up to DOT to "support the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and strengthen and make more resilient our nation's aging infrastructure."
Small Community Programs: The House bill includes a $2.8 million increase for the Contact Tower Program. It also includes $162 million in discretionary funding for Essential Air Service and $10 million for the Small Community Air Service Development program - the same as the current funding levels.
Panel members refrained from offering any amendments during this morning's markup. We expect lawmakers will propose changes to the bill when the full committee considers the measure next week.
