By reaching out to educate state legislators about the importance of general aviation to the economy, AOPA has stopped a damaging bill in Illinois that would classify GA airplanes as “luxury items” and impose an additional tax on them. But fundamental misperceptions about the role of GA persist across the country. That’s the case in Oregon, where state legislators recently proposed a similar tax that classifies airplanes as luxury items, along with purchases such as fur coats, cosmetic surgery, and even expensive artwork.
AOPA is working to correct these misconceptions about GA across the country through GA Serves America, an AOPA-sponsored educational initiative to educate policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public about the economic value of GA to all Americans, whether they fly or not. Delivering this message to the halls of state legislatures will be an extremely important component of this campaign.
“As long as misperceptions persist in state legislatures, we will continue to see the introduction of misguided bills like this one in Oregon,” said Greg Pecoraro, AOPA vice president of airports and state advocacy. “ We took immediate action to stop this proposed tax in Oregon and will continue to fight damaging and unjust taxation of this nature as these situations arise, but GA Serves America will add an important pro-active component to our advocacy efforts moving forward.”
Oregon H.B. 3146 has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. No vote or hearing has been scheduled as of yet.
