Montana airport funding bill passes
‘Absolutely essential’ for state's aviation
As the last days of the 2019 legislative session came to a close, Montana legislators voted overwhelmingly to support an aviation bill that helps the state generate matching funds for federal grants that were formerly left on the table.
The 2,100 AOPA pilots in Montana strongly supported the bill and were willing to personally fund it via fuel purchases said AOPA Northwest Mountain Region Manager Warren Hendrickson. He added that the legislation—which House legislators passed 67-32—was “absolutely essential for funding Montana’s airports.”
The FAA makes over $43 million available for airport development in Montana; however, a local match of 10 percent was required to receive that funding, Hendrickson explained.
Over the last five fiscal years, Montana airports have requested $6,968,000 in assistance, but the state’s grant fund met only $1,342,500 of that need, resulting in a deficiency of 80 percent.
Hendrickson said Montana aviation currently generates $2.8 billion in total economic activity and helps support over 24,000 jobs. However, until now the state had provided the lowest level of airport grant funding “by a very wide margin” among the seven states within the Northwest Mountain Region.
The win, ratified by Gov. Steve Bullock signing the bill on May 10, means Montana will no longer leave tens of millions of dollars of federal money on the table due to a lack of local funding.
Hendrickson noted that a commercial service “round-trip ticket price would be affected less than 30 cents” based on current jet fuel sales and annual passenger enplanements. The measure increases the aviation fuel tax on users of the state’s aviation system from $.04 per gallon to $.05 per gallon, eliminates a $0.02 per gallon airline rebate, and changes the distribution of aircraft registration fees. Annual Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics grant funding will increase from approximately $270,000 per year to $1.9 million annually.
The legislation will also help fund current and future state aeronautics division programs.
