Airport Alert: House Appropriations Committee Clears FY21 DHS/TSA/CBP Spending Bill

July 15, 2020

Today, the full House Appropriations Committee approved, on a party-line vote of 30-22, the fiscal year (FY) 2021 funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and component agencies, including TSA and CBP. In total, the bill recommends $50.72 billion in discretionary appropriations for DHS and an additional $5.1 billion in funding for disaster relief. At the urging of AAAE, the bill restored funding for numerous key programs to airports, including TSA law enforcement officer (LEO) reimbursement grants and staffing for exit lanes, as well as funding for new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Republican members of the Committee opposed the bill because it does not provide any funding for border wall construction or other border barriers and significantly reduces funding for immigration enforcement measures.
During Chairwoman Roybal-Allard's (D-CA) opening statement, she highlighted that the Subcommittee is continuing to monitor the impact COVID-19 has had on certain DHS agencies, including both TSA and CBP, and whether additional funding may be required in FY 2021. She noted that the Subcommittee is prepared to address any additional needs for TSA and to offset CBP fee revenue shortfalls later in the process based on formal requests from the administration.

The Committee considered a dozen amendments this morning, which largely focused on border security and immigration matters. No amendments were approved that changed funding levels for TSA or CBP activities important to airports.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
The House bill proposes a total of $8.1 billion for TSA, which is $479 million (or 6 percent) above the administration's request. Specific funding levels and direction in the report are as follows:

$46.4 million to sustain LEO reimbursement grants, once again rejecting the administration's proposal to shift these funding responsibilities to airports.

$90.1 million to continue "legally mandated" TSA staffing at certain exit lanes.

$62.7 million to sustain TSA's Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams, rejecting the administration's proposal to eliminate these teams.

$75 million for computed tomography (CT) screening equipment, an increase of $46.1 million above the request, to accelerate the procurement and installation of CT equipment that provides enhanced detection capabilities for carry-on baggage at airport checkpoints.

$55 million to finish the nationwide deployment of credential authentication technology (CAT) and for standoff detection technology.

$20 million to continue reimbursing airports that incurred costs associated with the development of a partial or completed in-line baggage screening system prior to August 3, 2007. The report requires TSA to develop a plan for how it will address the remaining balance of reimbursement claims in future budget requests.

$230 million for the screening partnership program, rejecting a proposed $25.4 million reduction that would result in a contract renewal delay.

$3 million to expand TSA's counter-UAS testing program to detect, identify, monitor, and classify UAS operating in the vicinity of airports that can pose a serious threat to arriving and departing aircraft to a second major U.S. airport. The report directs that in selecting a second airport, TSA should consider factors such as geographic diversity, frequency of UAS intrusions, and high passenger volume.

Reimbursable Service Agreements Outside of Primacy Passenger Terminals: The bill includes statutory language that extends a reimbursable service agreement pilot program for screening outside of existing primary passenger terminals through 2023 to "enable completion of the pilot". This pilot, first authorized in 2019, was set to expire in 2021.

CAT with Camera: The report requires TSA to brief the Committee on efforts to deploy technology that will minimize physical contact between screeners and passengers, including Credential Authentication Technology with Camera (CAT-C) as well as other technologies being considered.

Registered Traveler and CAT: Report language notes that TSA is working on a technology solution and legal framework that would help facilitate the continued operation of the Registered Traveler Program and asks for additional information on how the CAT implementation will impact the Registered Traveler Program as well as steps TSA is taking to address passenger privacy.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The bill provides $14.6 billion in discretionary appropriations for CBP, which is $1.15 billion (7 percent) below the administration's request.

CBP Officers: In total, the Committee provides funding for new CBP officers, including 850 officers funded through discretionary appropriations ($91 million) and an additional 350 officers funded through fee revenues. In comparison, the administration did not request any new officers for FY 2021.

Staffing Shortages: The report highlights CBP's continued staffing shortages at land, sea, and air ports of entry (POEs), noting that the "most recent resource allocation model states that CBP requires at least 26,837 officers and 3,148 agriculture specialists for existing requirements at the POEs, compared to current onboard personnel levels of approximately 25,0000 and 2,500, respectively. Unfortunately, the President's discretionary budget request makes no significant attempt to mitigate this gap." To help address these concerns, the Committee's recommendation includes funding (both appropriations and fees) for more than 1,500 new officers and support staff in FY 2021. In addition to the officer levels highlighted immediately above, this includes 200 agricultural specialists, 30 operational support staff, and 70 mission support staff.

Overtime: The bill retains the overtime cap at $45,000 but continues to permit the Secretary to waive this cap on an individual basis in the case of immigration emergencies.
Fee Revenue: The Committee report acknowledges the impact COVID-19 has had on the collection of trade and travel fee revenue that the Office of Field Operations depends on for a significant portion of its operations. Report language notes that because the impact on fiscal year 2021 collections is uncertain and still being estimated by CBP, the recommendation included in this bill was based on fee revenue estimates provided in CBP's budget request. The Committee plans to address the potential shortfall later in the appropriations process as more reliable estimates of the pandemic's impact on fee collections in the budget become available.

User Fee Airports: The report continues to strongly encourage "CBP to give priority consideration to an application for POE status to any user fee airport that served at least 75,000 deplaned international passengers in the previous calendar year."

For more information, attached is the Full Committee bill, report, and press release. The press release includes information on the amendments adopted.