NATCA Bookshelf

ISSUE For years, the FAA has faced an unstable, unpredictable funding stream with interruptions that have negatively affected all aspects of the Agency. NATCA believes that this is the most serious challenge facing the FAA and our National Airspace System (NAS) today. The last time that a long-term FAA reauthorization was signed into law was 2012. This legislation, which is the authorizing measure that establishes, continues, or modifies FAA programs and activities, was delayed more than five years and faced 23 short-term extensions and a partial FAA shutdown before finally being signed into law in February 2012. Today, the FAA is currently operating on its fifth short-term extension since the 2012 legislation expired. The current extension expires on September 30, 2018. Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R. 4), by a vote of 393 to 13. H.R. 4 is a long-term, bipartisan bill that authorizes the FAA through fiscal year (F Y) 2023, as well as the collection and expenditure of taxes for the Airport and Airways Trust Fund. As of printing, the Senate has not yet acted on FAA reauthorization legislation. In order to avoid a lapse in authorization on September 30, the Senate must either take up H.R. 4 or pass its own FAA reauthorization bill, which would have to be "conferenced" with H.R. 4 to resolve any differences before being signed into law by the president. Otherwise, the FAA will need another short-term extension or it will go into a partial shutdown. After careful review and consideration, NATCA supports H.R. 4. Even if long-term FAA reauthorization legislation such as H.R. 4 is signed into law, the FAA's funding stream has been negatively affected by the lack of regular order in the funding process. The last time all appropriations bills were enacted by the start of the new fiscal year was in 1996. A stand-alone Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill has not been enacted since 2006. Over the past two decades, Congress has become reliant on temporary, short-term funding measures called continuing resolutions (CRs) and, less frequently, omnibus spending packages (funding bills that combine multiple appropriations bills together) or some combination of the two. On March 23, Congress avoided its third federal government shutdown in two months when it passed an omnibus spending package that funds the government through September 30, 2018. An extension of FAA authorization until September 30, 2018 was attached to the omnibus. Prior to that, Congress was on its fifth consecutive CR. Despite some recent progress, the lack of a stable and predictable funding stream already has caused damage, some of which is irreversible. Stop-and-go funding, and specifically CRs, make planning for long-term improvement and modernization projects difficult. Stopping and restarting also makes modernization projects more expensive. Some projects may need to begin again. For instance, the April 2013 furloughs caused delays to modernization projects like En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) that cost $6 million per month because of the delay. Although Congress removed the threat of sequestration for the next two fiscal years when it passed the omnibus spending bill on March 23, it is scheduled to return in F Y 2020 and 2021 unless Congress takes action. As a result of sequestration cuts in 2013, preventative maintenance has been halted, and engineers must contend with a "fix-on- fail" policy, requiring that they wait until equipment actually breaks before replacing it. This creates an obvious safety concern and may also result in air traffic delays. FULL BACKGROUND continued on next page 39

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