Will Continue To Fund The Agency Through Mid-July

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a continuing resolution to extend funding for the FAA through mid-July as both chambers continue to try to hammer out a long-term funding bill.

The bill passed in the Senate Thursday is different from the short-term funding measure passed previously by the House, according to the Associated Press. The two versions will need to be reconciled before final passage and signature by the President.

The FAA has again become something of a political football during this round of funding negotiations. Republicans in the U.S. House are still hopeful that they can find some way to split air traffic control away from the FAA, creating a private, non-profit corporation to run ATC. But the idea has received a great deal of pushback from Democrats, as well as those in aviation who would be hit hard by proposed user fees intended to fund the non-profit agency.

The privatization measure was in the first long-term funding bill that was passed by the House Transportation Committee in February, but the plan was shelved following strenuous objections that came not only from Democrats but some Republican committee chairmen.

The FAA is currently funded under a continuing resolution through March 31.

But the House did not get the bill before adjourning Thursday for the weekend. They will not be back in session until Monday, when the Senate has only a pro-forma session scheduled. Then it starts to get a bit more complicated.

The Senate Easter Recess runs from March 21 through April 1 ... past the deadline for a reconciled CR to be passed. The House Easter break begins March 24 and runs through April 11.

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday passed its version of the long-term spending bill and sent it on to the full Senate.

(Image from file)

FMI: http://house.gov, www.senate.gov