For the 21st time in the last four years, Congress today will approve a short term extension of the law that authorizes the work of the Federal Aviation Administration, as lawmakers and the White House finally end a standoff that had idled thousands of workers.
After a lot of finger pointing, the battle will end in a classic type of Congressional compromise:
- The Senate will approve a House-passed FAA bill by unanimous consent
- The President will sign the bill into law
- The Secretary of Transportation will then issue waivers to ensure that no smaller airports lose any ticket subsidies from the federal government
- That will extend the FAA authorization through September 16 "Waivers?" you ask? Yep. Right there in the six page bill - if you read it - there is the power for the feds to issue waivers so that airports can skirt the new laws limiting federal subsidies: "(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." And so with this legislative sleight of hand, Congress will get to enjoy its summer break without having to continue a bruising political fight over who is responsible for 4,000 FAA furloughs and the interruption of tens of thousands of construction jobs at various airports. And when lawmakers return after Labor Day, they will probably have to approve a 22nd extension of the law in the last four years in order to avoid a repeat of the last two weeks. This latest FAA Authorization will run out September 16. And just to give you a heads up, a couple of other big authorizations run out at the end of September, one for federal highway programs and another for the National Flood Insurance Program. What also runs out at the end of September, you ask? The federal budget! And since the House has only approved six of 12 budget bills for next year - and just one has made it through the Senate - then there will have to be a stopgap budget bill to keep the government running. All of that might just make for a rather interesting month in the Congress.
