Congress paves way to extend FAA, highway program

   Congress is poised to pass bills providing short-term extensions for aviation and surface transportation programs without which funding for non-essential services would expire. Congressional leaders reached a deal on both measures late Friday.
    According to Politico.com, the agreement would provide the Federal Aviation Administration $5.4 billion to keep the agency running through the end of January, while surface transportation projects would get about $20 billion for six months. In both cases funding is maintained at the same level as the current fiscal year.
    Spending authority is scheduled to expire on Sept. 16 for the FAA and at the end of the month for highway and transit programs. The federal gas and diesel tax, also due to expire at the end of September, will also be extended through March.
    Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said she was pleased that the deal maintained funding levels for surface transportation.

Boxer

    “The original House proposal would have cut spending by more than 30 percent, which would threaten hundreds of thousands of construction workers’ jobs and thousands of businesses,” she said in a statement.
    The House is scheduled to vote on the FAA bill on Tuesday, according to Politico.
    The FAA was forced to partially shut down for two weeks at the end of July after a partisan dispute held up agreement on an extension. President Obama eventually signed a six-week extension. Congress has delayed acting on a long-term FAA bill for four years and for two years on a multiyear surface transportation bill.
    The FAA extension does not include the labor provisions or subsidy cutbacks for rural airports that put Democrats and Republicans at odds in the summer.
    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded Congress for advancing the two transportation extensions at current funding levels so states and business can move ahead with project work and new contracts. It said six months should allow Congress time to focus on a long-term reauthorization bill and urged lawmakers to quickly iron out differences and pass the multiyear FAA bill.