WASHINGTON – The House cleared legislation Monday and sent it to President Obama to extend legislative authority for the Federal Aviation Administration to July 15. The move would give lawmakers more time to debate longer-term policy.
The FAA’s current authority would have expired March 31. But lawmakers are debating changes for consumer rules, drones and equipment upgrades.
The temporary extension allows more time to reach consensus on contentious issues. For example, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation that would last six years and would shift air-traffic control from the FAA to a not-for-profit corporation.
But the Senate transportation committee approved legislation that would last until October 2017 and wouldn’t move air-traffic control.
Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., the head of the transportation panel, said the short-term extension was needed so the government could continue collecting about $40 million per day in aviation taxes and fees that pay for air-traffic control and construction projects.
The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, said July 15 is really a drop-dead deadline for a long-term FAA bill because Congress will be out for much of the rest of the year because of the election.
"We must get a long-term bill done by then," he said.
The House cleared the four-month extension by voice vote.
