GOP Kills $100 million relief to GA companies hurt by 9/11 airspace restrictions

The GOP reveals its priorities; vote accordingly.


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AVflash Volume 10, Number 05b -- January 29, 2004
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GA'S $100 MILLION BILL UP IN SMOKE...
A $100 million provision for relief to GA companies hurt by the
airspace restrictions following 9/11, in keeping with the fate of all
other such efforts so far in Washington, has failed to make the final
cut in the 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. As late as last week, the
provision was still intact, but it had vanished by last Thursday, when
the Senate passed the bill, putting an abrupt end to efforts by
Democrats to keep it in play. President Bush signed the bill into law
on Friday. Pete West, of the National Business Aviation Association
(NBAA), told AVweb this week, "The classic line in this town is this:
Now we have to work on the '05 appropriations process." In other
words, there's always next year.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#186597

....LOST IN LARGER PROBLEMS
Although the FAA's $60 billion reauthorization bill stretches over
four years, GA advocates don't have to wait four years to take their
next shot, West said. The spending bills still need to be voted on
every year. "Appropriations is an annual process, and we can work for
GA relief in fiscal year 2005," he told AVweb. Talks should begin soon
in Washington about spending in 2005, he said, but it's a long, slow
road. "The reality is, these GA companies have been hurting since
September 2001, and we need to stop the bleeding now," he said. But
with a war and a deficit and domestic demands on the budget, not to
mention an election, that is easier said than done.