It was a historic opportunity. For almost two decades, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund has been piling up incoming revenue from aviation users, and Congress was faced with the first federal budget surplus in 30 years. Finally, the trust fund could be "unlocked," and the billions of dollars inside could be used to properly fund the FAA and the Airport Improvement Program (AIP).
AOPA seized the moment, and with the help of our members, we fought hard to see that the aviation trust fund was unlocked. However, as negotiations between House and Senate conferees over how to fund the FAA for the next millennium broke down last November, we knew that the round was lost—but not the fight.
Last year started off with promise. A booming economy meant the first true federal budget surplus in a generation. Congress could now take the necessary steps to solve long-term funding problems that it was unable to address just a few years ago. House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) had already pledged to make 1999 "the year of aviation." Accordingly, Chairman Shuster and ranking Democrat Rep. Jim Oberstar put forth the most dynamic aviation funding proposal in recent history. The House bill, H.R.1000—or AIR-21, as it came to be known—would protect the trust fund revenue so that it is spent fully and solely on aviation, and guarantee the continuation of an annual contribution to FAA operations from the U.S. Treasury’s general fund. The Airport and Airway Trust Fund would finally be brought "off budget," and a total of $57.35 billion would be spent on the FAA over four years. That’s $14.3 billion more than Congress would have been likely to approve without the change.
AOPA and our Legislative Affairs staff in Washington, D.C., have been deeply involved in this entire process. Early in the year, we met with members of the appropriate congressional committees to explain the vital importance of this opportunity. Staff members attended late-night meetings and closed-door sessions with key participants as the legislation was being drafted. And you, as AOPA members, pitched in as well. You responded to "Pilot Alerts," mailed in petitions, and contacted your members of Congress directly.
By June, with the careful guidance of Chairman Shuster, and by a vote of 316-110, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed AIR-21.
The Senate received the House bill in June but delayed debate on its own version of the legislation, S.82. In frustration, I wrote to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), urging them to bring S.82 to the floor. They did so, but not until October 4—and then, the bill was very different from the one that had passed the House three months earlier. It did not include the House’s special budget treatment that would permit all aviation trust fund monies to be fully spent on aviation. Furthermore, the general fund contribution had been totally eliminated.
We knew that these Senate provisions would do little to address the FAA’s future funding needs. Yet, it was still our hope that the off-budget provisions would prevail when the House/Senate conference committee met to iron out the differences. However, as the conference got under way, the difficulty in reaching a mutual agreement was immediately apparent. Chairman Shuster and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) promptly clashed over "unlocking" the trust fund.
That’s ironic, because in 1998 Sen. Domenici developed—and almost all the Senate conferees voted in favor of—a plan that fully spent the highway and mass-transit trust funds. The mechanism was very similar to what was proposed in AIR-21. So why the change of heart? Why is the transit trust fund more important than aviation’s? The answer is power and turf. For almost two decades we have struggled with the issue of the aviation trust fund surplus. At the same time, the Budget and Appropriations committees have opposed taking the transportation trust funds off-budget, claiming that the only way to control federal spending is through the "unified" budget process.
Chairman Shuster was right to oppose the Senate proposal. It provided no guarantee that the trust fund would be protected or the general fund contribution would be maintained. Funding would remain at essentially a flat rate year after year. Critical modernization and infrastructure needs would not be met, and the door would be opened to future tax increases and the user fees that the Clinton administration has been desperately trying to implement since 1995.
Ultimately, in early November, the negotiations reached a stalemate. Chairman Shuster was forced to walk away from the negotiation table, saying, "I cannot accept a proposal that makes little changes to a system that is in desperate need of change."
All is not lost. The fact that the House passed legislation to unlock the trust fund and substantially increase FAA and AIP funding is in itself a milestone. Nevertheless, we must still convince those in the Senate that this is the right approach. Our expectation is that the conference committee will reconvene early this year, perhaps as early as next month. Stay ready. We are going to need your help again soon. When AOPA determines that the time is right, you’ll receive an important Pilot Alert. Only twice in the past decade have we sent each and every member a bulletin outlining a call to action. In this case it will be to write to your senators and urge them to support unlocking the trust fund. The power of 355,000 members who want to see their aviation taxes spent on aviation infrastructure is vital to this debate, particularly in an election year.
The fight is not over. Chairman Shuster has pledged to come back this year and fight for the same priorities. On your behalf, AOPA intends to be right there with him. We hope you will be, too.
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