Senate Appropriations Committee Advances FY24 DOT/FAA Spending Bill

July 20, 2023

The Senate Appropriations Committee met  and approved its version of legislation that would fund the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration for the upcoming fiscal year that begins on October 1. 

The Senate FY24 DOT/FAA spending bill proposes to fund AIP at $3.35 billion and includes $201 million for airport earmarks. Notably, the measure also includes $300 million from the general fund for supplemental airport grants. You will recall that the bill that passed the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday includes $3.35 billion for AIP and $303 million for airport earmarks, but does not provide funding for supplemental AIP grants. Like the House bill, the Senate measure proposes a record $194 million for the Contract Tower Program. 

Overall, the Senate bill proposes $12.74 billion for FAA operations, which committee leaders note would allow the agency to hire 1,800 new air traffic controllers. These figures are similar to those proposed in the House for these purposes. The Senate bill proposes $3.43 billion for FAA facilities and equipment; the House bill proposes $2.973 billion. On FAA research, engineering, and development, the Senate bill proposes $260 million; the House requests $196.05 million. 

Ultimately, lawmakers will have to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills, a process that promises to be extremely difficult. As we have repeatedly noted, the Democrat-controlled Senate is moving to fund the federal government at FY23 levels in accordance with the debt ceiling deal approved earlier this year. House Republicans, in contrast, are working aggressively to reduce federal spending and moving to fund annual appropriations bills at FY22 levels overall, which would necessitate government-wide cuts of nearly $120 billion from current levels.

We had hoped to provide additional details on the Senate bill, including a list of airport earmarks, but the Committee has yet to make them publicly available. We will provide an update and more information as soon as possible.