Twenty-Three Senators Send Message To President Obama That Fees
Will Stifle Economic Recovery
It looks like user fees are not going to be imposed on GA
without a fight. A bipartisan group of 23 senators has sent a
letter to President Obama opposing the idea.
The November 2 letter, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS),
strongly opposes the $100 per-flight tax on turbine-powered
aircraft and other proposed user fees the president has offered
congress as part of a deficit-reduction package. A Congressional
Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction must agree by November
23 on a deficit-reduction plan with at least $1.5 trillion in
savings over the next ten years.
NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said the letter from the
Senators shows they understand the value of general aviation to
business. "They know that user fees would pose an onerous, hidden
administrative cost for the thousands of small and mid-size
businesses that rely on aircraft to succeed," he said. "We are
committed to working with Senator Moran and others in the Senate
and House to defeat this bad policy idea."
In the letter, the Senators state: "With 14 million Americans
looking for work, our government's first priority should be to
create an environment in which businesses can grow and hire
additional workers. While we agree that the deficit must be
reduced, increasing taxes on corporate jets and other GA aircraft
will only further stifle economic recovery,"
The letter also reminds the President that new aviation user
fees have been consistently rejected by the House and Senate, and
that implementing user fees in lieu of existing fuel taxes would
require creation of an entirely new federal collection bureaucracy,
which "seems counterproductive to deficit reduction."
"The United States cannot afford to shut down an industry, like
general aviation, that contributes significantly to the nation's
exports," the letter says, noting that U.S. GA manufacturers now
export more than 50 percent of aircraft they produce. "This trend
in exports substantiates your goal of doubling U.S. exports over
the next five years."
The senators' letter also points out that general aviation
employs 1.2 million people and generates $150 billion in economic
activity annually, and that GA aircraft fly daily missions for
emergency medical transport, aerial firefighting, law enforcement,
search and rescue, disaster relief, national security and
counterterrorism.