Congress Reaches Interim Deal on FAA Taxes
Congress bickered and fought over extending the FAA authority to collect taxes that fund its programs to the point where it allowed the authority to expire. That’s cost the FAA more than $250 million ($25 million a day).
And why?
Democrats were pushing for a change in union rules and the GOP was pushing back. The GOP was pushing for changes to the rural air service program, and the Democrats were pushing back.
Gridlock and a refusal to actually compromise.
Who lost - everyone. The FAA lost money that it needs to fund infrastructure improvements at a time when Congress is looking for every penny. Congress looks petty - and there’s no way to get back those lost funds. Thousands of workers were affected by the failure to reach a deal - both those employed directly by the FAA who were without paychecks and those who were forced to stop working on infrastructure projects around the country.
Way to go Congress.
So, the fact that an interim deal was reached is not without a sense of relief. It’s a clean bill - which apparently means no changes to either the programs or the union portion.