Proposal Due For Vote Later This Month

User fees against general aviation pilots will not -- repeat, NOT -- be a part of the FAA funding bill now wending its way through the halls of the House of Representatives, according to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar.

Bloomberg News reports Oberstar has held firm to his belief that current taxes can safely fund the FAA's budget over the next five years. The Bush Administration has proposed fees to pay for over half of the FAA's $14.1 billion budget.

"None of what the administration was proposing" will be included, Oberstar (D-MN) said. "We're plotting a path to achieving it without the administration's fees."

Oberstar's words came as little reassurance to the Air Transport Association -- second only to the FAA in lobbying for a fee-based system -- although a spokesman for the airline lobbying group said it remains optimistic Congress will force corporate jet operators to pay more.

"We're tired of subsidizing corporate aviation," said ATA spokesman David Castelveter.

An amended House proposal is due to be reviewed by the House Aviation Subcommittee later this month. As ANN reported, the Senate passed its version of the bill last month, with an amendment calling for the complete elimination of user fees in the bill failing by just one vote.

The Senate plant includes a $25 charge on all flight segments flown under an IFR flight plan, that supporters estimate would collect $400 million in new revenue annually.

FMI: http://oberstar.house.gov