Congressmen Tom Petri (R-WI), Jerry Costello (D-IL) and 114 additional members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that aviation user fees not be imposed to fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The congressmen say the current system of aviation excise taxes has proven to be a stable and efficient source of funding.
“In 2009 we sent a bipartisan letter to President Obama requesting that aviation user fees not be part of the 2011 budget proposal,” said Petri. “This effort was supported by the general aviation and business aviation community, and we were pleased our message was heard and no user fees were proposed. Now we want that message heard again.”
“The U.S. has the most vibrant general aviation community in the world and would be severely impacted by imposing user fees,” he said. “We don’t want the administrative nightmare which would result from user fees.”
“We are making another strong statement with this letter that a user fee proposal would be a step backward,” said Costello. “This is an issue that we have had bipartisan agreement on in recent years and there is no reason to reconsider it. User fees are a non-starter.”
The House previously opposed efforts in the 110th and 111th Congresses during consideration of the FAA reauthorization bills to impose user fees to fund the air traffic control system.
http://www.airportbusiness.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=42242
Source: AIRPORT BUSINESS
Date: 2011-01-24