Senate commerce committee leaders have rolled out a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that would increase airport construction grants but leave untouched the cap on passenger facility charges, another important airport infrastructure funding resource.
The new账单, which committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and the panel’s top Democrat, Bill Nelson (Fla.), unveiled on March 9 [概括]，与房屋运输和基础设施委员会主席Bill Shuster（R-Pa。）的版本不同，以重要的方式不同。通过他的委员会on Feb. 11.
The Senate measure spans 18 months and is bipartisan; Shuster’s extends for six years and has run into strong criticism from Democrats on his panel and some in the aviation industry, chiefly over a provision to spin off FAA’s air traffic control operations into a nonfederal, nonprofit corporation.
The Thune-Nelson Senate version, which is scheduled for a commerce committee vote on March 16, keeps the FAA’s air traffic control unit within the FAA.
在对舒斯特提案中的ATC规定批评之后，众议院共和党领导人在2月下旬对这项立法进行了投票表决。
Congress must reauthorize FAA programs, if even for a short period, by March 31 when a current stopgap measure lapses.
For the construction industry, the major focus in the bills is their funding for FAA’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP) construction grants. The Thune-Nelson proposal would raise AIP’s authorization by $400 million, or 12%, in 2017, to a total of $3.75 billion.
The House transportation panel version would provide $22.7 billion over six years for AIP, with the 2017 level set at $3.6 billion. The funding would top out at slightly less than $4 billion in 2022.
机场官员感到失望的是，参议院法案不会从目前的4.50美元（2000年设定的水平）提高PFC上限。Shuster的法案也将天花板留在了它的位置。
机场Council International-North America CEO Kevin Burke and American Association of Airport Executives CEO Todd Hauptli called the Senate measure’s lack of a PFC increase “unfortunate.”
They added, “The modest proposed increase in federal investment for airport infrastructure [in AIP] is welcomed, but [the Senate] legislation is a missed opportunity to make progress in promoting airline competition and getting Washington out of the way of local airport investment decisions by modernizing the local PFC user fee.”
Shuster, in a statement, praised the senators for introducing their bill. He noted that his committee and the Senate’s have worked together on a surface transportation, Amtrak and other bills that have become law.
他补充说：“我期待通过完成一项FAA法案，为美国联邦航空局和国家航空系统提供批判性改革，以继续我们的工作并取得成功。”该声明的最后一部分表明他不想看到现状FAA。
就他而言，美国运输安东尼·福克斯（Anthony Foxx）发表了一份简短的声明，赞扬图恩（Thune）和纳尔逊（Nelson）“汇总了两党提议，以重新授权FAA”。Foxx补充说：“我期待检查其账单的细节。”
