These questions are culled from phone calls, letters, faxes and e-mails sent to Rep. Gallegly's Camarillo, Solvang, and Washington offices. Each week Rep. Gallegly adds another question and answer. Please add your comments.
August 5, 2011
Question: Why did the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) partially shut down?
Answer: Although Congress agreed to a short-term agreement to fund the FAA, it is still working to resolve differences and pass a longer-term reauthorization of the FAA. One of the outstanding issues involves reforming the Essential Air Service Program. This program provides subsidies to small community airports that cannot afford to operate without federal assistance.
On February 17, the Senate passed S. 223 on an 87 to 7 vote. S. 233 includes a provision that would cut ticket subsidies in excess of $1,000 per ticket and eliminate subsidies for communities within 90 miles of a large commercial airport. These changes would only affect 13 airports around the country.
On July 20, the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 253 to 177, a bipartisan bill, H.R. 2553, which will temporarily end the partial FAA shutdown until September 16. H.R. 2553 also includes the Senate-approved changes to the Essential Air Services Program that were included in the Senate FAA Reauthorization Act. In addition, H.R. 2553 gives the Transportation Secretary the discretion to waive the provision that would cut the Essential Air Service Program subsidies.
The Senate passed the House bill and the President signed it on August 5. This gives Congress time to continue to work to resolve the rest of the outstanding issues, such as whether to allow some transportation workers to unionize, without disrupting FAA services.
For previous Questions of the Week chronologically and by topic, please see my Questions of the Week page.
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