Authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding expires in just two days, on May 10. If federal lawmakers don’t act, the FAA won’t be able to hire air traffic controllers, implement new safety improvements, or adopt passenger protections. Travelers also could face significant flight delays just as the summer travel season is set to begin.
No member of Congress wants to deal with angry airline passengers during an election year, but that worry is not the only reason members of the U.S. Senate and House are eager to approve an FAA reauthorization bill this week.
The FAA legislation is Congress’s last “must-pass” bill until at least September 30. The end of September is, of course, the deadline for passage of fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills — or a continuing resolution (CR) extending fiscal year 2024 funding levels — and a farm bill reauthorization. But if history is any guide, lawmakers will be eager to get out of town in late September (or, more likely, even earlier) so they can stay on the campaign trail ahead of the November elections. It is very likely they will approve a “clean” CR and short-term farm bill reauthorization without any additions or amendments after the summer.
In other words: the FAA bill has serious tailwinds, so this week presents one of the last opportunities in the 118th Congress for lawmakers to try to attach their preferred policies to a bill that Congress must get done.
Let’s see what priorities could fly with the FAA bill this week.
Senate Majority Leader Wants Stablecoin Added To FAA Reauthorization
The U.S. Senate is taking the lead on FAA reauthorization this week. As Punchbowl News noted this morning, “Regardless of when it ultimately gets done and what might hitch a ride on it, the House will have little choice but to swallow whatever the Senate passes …”
Not so fast.
One item Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) clearly wants to be included with FAA reauthorization is stablecoin legislation. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) also seemed to support that move. And, as The Block reported, Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) said he would support a legislative package that includes both a bill to regulate stablecoins and the SAFER Banking Act, which would ensure all businesses, including businesses that were allowed to sell marijuana, have access to deposit accounts, insurance, and other financial services products. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also expressed support for including these initiatives in the FAA reauthorization.
Even with the bipartisan, bicameral support, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Republican leaders seem unlikely to support these additions, however. Indeed, after Senate Majority Leader Schumer floated his proposal, a spokesman for Sen. McConnell told Marijuana Moment the minority leader “continues to oppose marijuana banking.” Additionally, according to Bloomberg, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “told lawmakers he opposes efforts to attach unrelated measures to critical legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration,” including stablecoin and marijuana legislation.
Ultimately, it looks like Senate Majority Leader Schumer will lose this fight, and it’s not the only one put forward by the party to go down in flames.
As Yahoo! News noted, “Democrats have also been unable to win inclusion for a federal cost-sharing measure as part of the rebuild of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed last month” because top “Republicans believe it is too early to pass a federal cost-share, as state officials have yet to unveil a recovery cost estimate.”
Those losses will not stop other senators from trying to attach their pet legislation to the FAA reauthorization bill.
Tax Bill Could Take A Ride On FAA Authorization
Four months ago, on January 31, House lawmakers approved a bipartisan tax bill that included tax cuts for both families and businesses. It has languished in the Senate amidst GOP opposition.
Written by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the legislation would:
- Expand access to the child tax credit for 2023, 2024, and 2025;
- Ensure the child tax credit phase-in is applied fairly to families with multiple children;
- Create flexibility for taxpayers to use either current- or prior-year income to calculate the child tax credit in 2024 or 2025;
- Adjust the child tax credit for inflation starting in 2024;
- Enhance the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit;
- Alter research and development (R&D) expensing so that businesses can immediately deduct the cost of their U.S.-based R&D investments instead of over five years;
- Expand interest deductibility for U.S. businesses; and
- Restore full and immediate expensing for investments that businesses make in machines, equipment, and vehicles.
Over strong objections by Republican senators, Chair Wyden has filed an amendment to add this legislation to the FAA reauthorization bill.
Sen. Wyden’s request faces long odds, however.
One challenge is that his bill would make much of this tax relief retroactive for calendar year 2023. Since taxpayers already have filed their taxes for last year, this provision would likely need to be rewritten. In addition to that complication, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) vehemently opposes the bipartisan bill and has persuaded the overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans to join him.
Another Thorny Issue: Immigration
As Yahoo! News reported yesterday, “the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is facing renewed scrutiny over illegal immigrants traveling by plane throughout the U.S. without proper identification,’ and Republican senators are looking to address that issue through the FAA reauthorization.
Specifically, Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) want to add their VALID Act, which would stop migrants from being able to use the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app as an acceptable form of identification to fly, as an amendment.
Anti-immigration groups sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Schumer and other Senate leaders last week demanding that they include the VALID Act in the FAA reauthorization. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also penned an op-ed this week highlighting the matter.
From Kids’ Online Safety To Permitting Reforms, Senators Could Add Other Priorities Too
According to Punchbowl News, the FAA reauthorization could end up being a veritable Christmas tree of legislative priorities.
The list of standalone bills that could be added includes the Kids Online Safety Act, which would establish guidelines to protect minors who use social media; an effort to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides income-eligible households with financial support to purchase internet service; and the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which would expand compensation for victims of nuclear contamination.
Additionally, as E&E News reported this week, Sens. Scott and Rubio “together submitted two amendments that would help shoreline communities recover after major storms.” The first proposal would increase by $16.5 billion the fiscal year 2024 appropriations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund. The second would facilitate repairs and rehabilitation projects for shoreline protection infrastructure by limiting the applicability of certain easement requirements in the event of a natural disaster.
E&E News also reported Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wants to attach bipartisan permitting reforms to the FAA bill. His proposal “mirrors” S. 2228, the Building Chips in America Act, that Sen. Cruz sponsored with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and that would exempt certain semiconductor projects from longer environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act. That proposal also would put the U.S. Department of Commerce in charge of approving certain other chips projects.
Even though GOP senators want their pet projects included, they also are worried all of the additions could slow, and even stall, passage. Indeed, Republican lawmakers have warned Majority Leader Schumer that he will need to be a strong and fierce air traffic controller if he wants to ensure the bill will get approved by Friday evening.
“This is a bill that incorporates hundreds of member priorities from both sides of the aisle,” said Sen. Cruz, who is acting as GOP floor manager for the bill. “I’m certainly open to non-germane amendments, but it’s not clear that those will move forward without objections from other members.” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D) said that “if one [priority] gets added, there will be a whole bunch more that will put holds on the bill.”
Ultimately, Sen. Thune told Politico all of these wishes mean Congress might have to settle for another short-term FAA reauthorization while negotiations on what else could get added to a long-term extension continue. For how long, no one knows, but with the May 10 deadline in full view, travelers certainly won’t have wait long to find out.