On Monday night, the House cleared a measure that would extend aviation programs through July 15, 2016, giving Congress another three and a half months for the two chambers to seek an agreement on a long-term reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Procedurally, the House concurred with a Senate amendment to the short-term extension (HR 4721) the House had passed on March 21. The original House measure extended aviation programs through July 15, 2016, but included revenue-raising provisions through March 31, 2017. On March 17, the Senate amended HR 4721 to extend both aviation programs and revenue provisions through July 15 of this year.
The current authorization FAA reauthorization is set to expire March 31. Enacting this extension gives Congress over three months to reach a long-term agreement literally just before lawmakers leave for the presidential nominating conventions and the August recess.
Already the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has approved HR 4441 a six-year, $69 billion measure in February and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has marked up S 2658, a $33.1 billion bill that would authorize the programs through FY 2017 in March.