FAA Shutdown Through Labor Day?

On the same day that Congress sent a bipartisan agreement to raise the debt limit to President Obama, lawmakers were unable to bridge a divide over the Federal Aviation Administration, as the House and Senate headed home until after Labor Day.

"We have a crisis on our hands with the FAA," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), as she used a speech on the Senate floor to blast Republicans for "hostage-taking" on the FAA matter, as Democrats accused the GOP of playing partisan politics with the FAA bill.

"I know exactly why we have this crisis," Boxer said. "It's another made-up crisis by the Republicans; this is a Republican shutdown."

"What are we trying to prove, that we're tough guys?" Boxer asked on the Senate floor.

But Republicans fired right back, accusing Democrats of being the ones looking for partisan political gain, as the dispute threatens to cost the feds over $1 billion in uncollected airline ticket taxes in coming weeks.

"Apparently, protecting outrageous airline ticket subsidies is more important than putting 4,000 furloughed FAA employees and thousands of airport construction workers across the country back to work," said Rep. John Mica (R-FL).

It was Mica, as Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who set this fight in motion, as he included extra language in a short-term FAA extension bill to eliminate airline ticket subsidies of more than $1,000 per passenger at three airports.

Those subsidies are part of what's known as the "Essential Air Service," which is a program that subsidizes the cost of airline tickets at smaller airports, to help them survive economically.

Democrats though cast the dispute not as one that is about cost-cutting, but one that involves efforts by the GOP to overturn a National Mediation Board labor provision dealing with unionization efforts by airline workers.

"From day one, House GOP leaders admitted openly—almost proudly—that they were doing this to gain ‘leverage’ toward a larger goal—undermining worker rights," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed the finger of blame squarely at Delta Airlines, saying Delta is using this dispute to try to overturn the labor rule.

But, if you look at the short-term extension legislation approved by the House two weeks ago, there is no language dealing with the labor issue - just the airline ticket subsidy issue mentioned above.

Here is the text of that bill, which was never voted on by the Senate - Section 6 deals with "Essential Air Service Reform."

=

H.R.2553 -- Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011, Part IV 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend the airport improvement program, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011, Part IV'.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TAXES FUNDING AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND.

(a) Fuel Taxes- Subparagraph (B) of section 4081(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking `July 22, 2011' and inserting `September 16, 2011'.

(b) Ticket Taxes-

•  (1) PERSONS- Clause (ii) of section 4261(j)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking `July 22, 2011' and inserting `September 16, 2011'.

•  (2) PROPERTY- Clause (ii) of section 4271(d)(1)(A) of such Code is amended by striking `July 22, 2011' and inserting `September 16, 2011'.

(c) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on July 23, 2011.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY.

(a) In General- Paragraph (1) of section 9502(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--

•  
  (1) by striking `July 23, 2011' and inserting `September 17, 2011'; and

•  
  (2) by inserting `or the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011, Part IV' before the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (A).

(b) Conforming Amendment- Paragraph (2) of section 9502(e) of such Code is amended by striking `July 23, 2011' and inserting `September 17, 2011'.

(c) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on July 23, 2011.

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

(a) Authorization of Appropriations-

•  (1) IN GENERAL- Section 48103 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the following:

•  `(8) $3,380,178,082 for the period beginning on October 1, 2010, and ending on September 16, 2011.'.

•  (2) OBLIGATION OF AMOUNTS- Subject to limitations specified in advance in appropriation Acts, sums made available pursuant to the amendment made by paragraph (1) may be obligated at any time through September 30, 2011, and shall remain available until expended.

(b) Project Grant Authority- Section 47104(c) of such title is amended by striking `July 22, 2011,' and inserting `September 16, 2011,'.

SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF EXPIRING AUTHORITIES.

(a) Section 40117(l)(7) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking `July 23, 2011.' and inserting `September 17, 2011.'.

(b) Section 44302(f)(1) of such title is amended--

•  (1) by striking `July 22, 2011,' and inserting `September 16, 2011,'; and

•  (2) by striking `October 31, 2011,' and inserting `December 31, 2011,'.

(c) Section 44303(b) of such title is amended by striking `October 31, 2011,' and inserting `December 31, 2011,'.

(d) Section 47107(s)(3) of such title is amended by striking `July 23, 2011.' and inserting `September 17, 2011.'.

(e) Section 47115(j) of such title is amended by striking `July 23, 2011,' and inserting `September 17, 2011,'.

(f) Section 47141(f) of such title is amended by striking `July 22, 2011.' and inserting `September 16, 2011.'.

(g) Section 49108 of such title is amended by striking `July 22, 2011,' and inserting `September 16, 2011,'.

(h) Section 161 of the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 47109 note) is amended by striking `July 23, 2011,' and inserting `September 17, 2011,'.

(i) Section 186(d) of such Act (117 Stat. 2518) is amended by striking `July 23, 2011,' and inserting `September 17, 2011,'.

(j) The amendments made by this section shall take effect on July 23, 2011.

SEC. 6. ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE REFORM.

(a) In General- Section 41731(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--

•  (1) in subparagraph (A) by redesignating clauses (i) through (iii) as subclauses (I) through (III), respectively;

•  (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively;

•  (3) in clause (i)(I) (as so redesignated) by inserting `(A)' before `(i)(I)';

•  (4) in subparagraph (A)(ii) (as so redesignated)--

•  (A) by striking `determined' and inserting `was determined';

•  (B) by striking `Secretary' and inserting `Secretary of Transportation'; and

•  (C) by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

•  (5) by adding at the end the following:

•  (B) is located not less than 90 miles from the nearest medium or large hub airport; and

•  (C) had an average subsidy per passenger of less than $1,000 during the most recent fiscal year, as determined by the Secretary.'.

(b) Limitation on Authority To Decide a Place Not an Eligible Place- Section 41731(b) of such title is amended--

•  (1) by striking `Secretary of Transportation' and inserting `Secretary'; and

•  (2) by striking `on the basis of a passenger subsidy at that place or on another basis' and inserting `on any basis'.

(c) Exceptions and Waivers- Section 41731 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(c) Exceptions for Locations in Alaska- Subsections (a)(1)(B) and (a)(1)(C) shall not apply with respect to a location in the State of Alaska.

`(d) Waivers- The Secretary may waive subsection (a)(1)(B) with respect to a location if the Secretary determines that the geographic characteristics of the location result in undue difficulty in accessing the nearest medium or large hub airport.'.

Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2011.

= 

If you can find the provision dealing with unions and airline workers in the above text, let me know, because I didn't see it.  The labor issue has been an issue with the longer-term extension of the FAA bill, but was not included by the House in this short term extension into September, a bill which the Senate never considered.

And so, now the Congress is gone for five weeks. Both the House and Senate will be holding short "pro-forma" sessions every few days, so it is possible for some kind of deal to be struck in the interim.

But as of right now, the gloves are off - as Democrats will hold a news conference today in the Senate to denounce Republicans, accusing them of endangering jobs and the economy with this impasse.

Republicans return the favor and say that it's Democrats who are at fault, as both sides blocked legislation from both sides in the Senate on Tuesday.

Regardless of who you blame, the Congress left town three days early for their summer break, opting for finger pointing instead of legislating on the FAA partial shutdown.

And they're not back until September 6 and 7.

One last note - at one point on Tuesday, Sen. Reid said he was ready to give in and approve the House bill.  But while that was his update for reporters around 2pm, by 7pm, he had decided on a different course.

Reid will hold a news conference with other Democrats today on the dispute, which is certain to gather a lot of attention while Congress is out of session over the next five weeks.