The FAA might get reauthorization after all this year if two powerful senators of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation have their way during this lame-duck session of Congress. Senators John (Jay) Rockefeller (D.-W.Va.), chairman of the full committee, and Byron Dorgan (D.-N.D.), chairman of the aviation subcommittee, say the FAA has been without financial stability for too long and the time to act is now.
Disagreements between the Senate and the House have prevented the passage of a full term reauthorization since 2007, requiring 16 separate temporary extensions. Rockefeller said, “we have relied on too many short-term reauthorizations and stop-gap measures. It’s time to get the reauthorization bill passed.”
“Those of us who have negotiated between the House and the Senate have reached agreement on the majority of what is in the legislation,” Dorgan said. “I believe it is important to make one more effort to get the benefits of this bill through before the end of the year. Doing so will create substantial jobs as well as modernize and improve our air traffic control system.”
The senators said they are pushing their colleagues to pass the bill this year before the 112th Congress takes over in January.