Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3539 - Federal Aviation Authorization Act of 1996

(House)
(Shuster (R) Pennsylvania and 3 cosponsors)

The Administration supports House passage of H.R. 3539. Without the timely enactment of authorizing legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) authority to fund many important airport projects involving capacity, safety, and security will end on October 1st.

H.R. 3539 authorizes funding for critical FAA safety, security, air traffic modernization, research, and airport improvement activities. It also provides for important first steps toward meaningful reform of financing for the FAA and the Airport and Airways system. The lapse of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund taxes this year underscores the need to find a long-term, new funding solution, for the FAA.

The Administration particularly commends the inclusion of authority for the FAA to collect user fees for providing air traffic control services to aircraft that neither take off from nor land in the United States.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

H.R. 3539 would affect offsetting receipts and direct spending. Therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990. OMB's preliminary scoring estimates of this bill are presented in the table below. Final scoring of this legislation may differ from these estimates.