This is part of a letter I received from Senator Harry Reid after expressing my concerns about the proposed FAA funding issue.

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about proposals for reforming the Airport and Airways Trust Fund. I appreciate hearing from you.

Reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other aviation programs will expire at the end of the Fiscal Year 2007. Among the expiring provisions is the existing aviation tax structure, which provides revenue for the Airport and Airways Trust Fund.

Currently, airline passenger ticket taxes are the main source of trust fund revenue; however, other revenue is also derived from taxes on fuel and cargo shipments. From 2000 to 2003, the trust fund experienced a $1.3 billion decrease in revenue primarily due to reduced commercial airline passenger traffic. Increased operational costs for the FAA may also contribute to future shortfalls.

As you noted, the Bush Administration's Fiscal Year 2008 budget request included a direct user fee system proposal that would likely require usage fee contributions from the general aviation industry to the Airport and Airways Trust Fund. I understand your concerns about this fee structure. You might be interested to learn that the Chairman of the House Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, Representative James Oberstar (D-MN), has stated that he believes this proposal would result in almost $600 million less in revenue than maintaining the current tax structure.

When I have the opportunity to consider FAA reauthorization legislation and the Fiscal Year 2008 budget in the Senate, I will be certain to keep your concerns in mind.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. For more information about my work for Nevada, my role in the United States Senate Leadership, or to subscribe to regular e-mail updates on the issues that interest you, please visit my Web site at http://reid.senate.gov. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.



My best wishes to you.



Sincerely,


HARRY REID

United States Senator





HR:sn

Scout-

Thanks for taking the time to voice your concerns. You should forward that letter on the Phil Boyer at AOPA...they are compiling a library of responses from various senators and representatives concerning this issue in order to have more ammo to fight with.

Here is an excerpt from Phil in a letter to all AOPA members:

Whenever you send something to Congress, please send me a copy (e-mail to [email protected] or fax to 301/695-2352), and more importantly, send me whatever response you get. We are tracking every single member of Congress. We will hold each one to their promises.


By the way, I did not see anything in that letter that means a hill of beans. He tells you Representative James Oberstar's position, but what is his position on the matter?

I can keep someones concerns in mind while I shoot them in the head, but that does not help them in any way.

Scout:

I wrote both of Montana's US Senators and our lone Congressman to express my opposition to user fees, but haven't heard anything back yet. When I do, I'll let you know if I got anything more committal than you received from Sen. Reid. Thanks for taking the time to contact the senator. I hope many more of our backcountry members do likewise.

Joe.