Not coincidentally, the airport funding bill just was reported out of the House committee today:
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Aiming to make flying safer and smoother, a House committee approved a big increase in airport spending Thursday while a Senate panel heard frustrated travelers demand better treatment from airlines.
"The House Transportation Committee, by a voice vote, passed a measure that would double funding for the Federal Aviation Administration over the next five years, to about $20 billion in 2004.
"The bill by Chairman Rep. Bud Shuster, R-Pa., would find the additional money by separating the Aviation Trust Fund, which holds revenues from airport user taxes, from the general federal budget.
"The administration, which has its own FAA bill, opposes such a move because it would reduce the general budget's expected surpluses by billions of dollars in the coming years. But Shuster succeeded last year in protecting a similar highway trust fund from use by other federal programs." |
