{
  "id": "RL33654",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33654",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 340957,
      "date": "2008-03-25",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T03:33:55.013184",
      "title": "Aviation Spending Guarantee Mechanisms",
      "summary": "Since the 1971 creation of the user-supported airport and airway trust fund in the Airport and Airway Development and Revenue Acts of 1970 (P.L. 91-259) there has been disagreement over the appropriate use of the trust fund\u2019s revenues. Some Members of Congress viewed the trust fund as primarily a capital account that would fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airport and airway (mostly air traffic control) capital requirements. Others, including the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), some executive agencies, as well as some members of congressional appropriations and budget committees, viewed the trust fund as the basis for a user-pay system that would also fund some or all of the FAA\u2019s operations expenses.\nSince 1976, Congress has passed and amended a series of legislative provisions designed to \u201cguarantee\u201d the full funding of the FAA\u2019s capital programs\u2014the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and Facilities and Equipment program (F&E). From FY1977 through FY1990, the guarantees consisted of a variety of \u201ccap and penalty\u201d provisions which set a legislated cap on the amount of aviation trust fund money that could be used to fund FAA operations. In addition, penalty mechanisms were put in place that would reduce the cap by formula amounts in proportion to the capital programs\u2019 shortfall of appropriated funding from their authorized amounts. Although the cap and penalty provisions had some apparent early success, there was growing resistance to passing appropriations bills that adhered to the penalties during the 1980s. In 1990, Congress removed the penalty. Some form of cap continued through 1998.\nIn 2000, the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (P.L. 106-181; AIR21) included two new spending guarantees. One made it \u201cout-of-order\u201d in the House or Senate to consider legislation that failed to use all trust fund receipts and interest annually. The second made it out-of-order to consider any bills that provided any funding for research or operations if it failed to fully fund AIP and F&E at their authorized levels. These guarantees were extended through FY2007 in Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108-176; Vision 100). AIP has been nearly fully funded under these provisions. F&E has not during recent years.\nBoth the cap and penalty, and the point of order enforced guarantees have had mixed success. The success depends on the support that enforcing the mechanism has maintained during the appropriations process. The history of these guarantees indicates that the broader budgetary situation can trump the spending guarantees.\nAviation funding guarantees have received consideration during the FAA reauthorization debate of the 110th Congress. Options discussed during the debate have included retaining the current system, modifying the current guarantees, resurrecting a mechanism analogous to the cap and penalty provisions, reconsidering taking the trust fund \u201coff-budget,\u201d or erecting budgetary \u201cfire walls\u201d as was done for the highway and transit programs in 1998.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc816981/",
      "id": "RL33654_2006Sep20",
      "date": "2006-09-20",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Aviation Spending Guarantee Mechanisms",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
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  "topics": [
    "Appropriations"
  ]
}