Legislative analysis for counties: P.L. 118-63, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2024
Author
Upcoming Events
Related News
Key Takeaways
On May 16, President Joe Biden enacted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Act of 2024 (P.L. 118-63), a bipartisan, five-year reauthorization law that provides $105.5 billion for the FAA from Fiscal Years (FY) 2024 through 2028, a nine percent increase from the total provided by the previous law.
Background
On April 29, Congressional transportation leadership released mostly final text of the FAA legislation that resulted from an informal conference between Capitol Hill committee staff who worked out differences between the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935) and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (S. 1939) behind the scenes over the past few months.
While final passage required four short-term extensions of the 2018 FAA law, the legislation was eventually passed overwhelmingly in both chambers of Congress in strongly bipartisan votes of 88 to 4 in the Senate and 387 to 26 in the House. Neither chamber amended the compromised text with just a handful of minor, agreed-upon fixes taking place.
How does the FAA authorization impact counties?
Counties directly support 34 percent of the nation’s public airports that are funded and regulated by the FAA reauthorization. Annually, counties invest over $5 billion in air transportation and employ nearly 12,000 Americans across the country.
The FAA reauthorization is crucial for county-supported airports as it ensures continuous federal funding for infrastructure improvements, including safety, efficiency and modernization projects. The reauthorization also fosters economic development by creating jobs and boosting local economies.
Legislative analysis
Funding authorizations are made throughout the law. Some are funded through the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) while others are subject to the annual appropriations process.
View the full legislative analysis here.
Advocacy
UPDATED: FAA authorization signed into law
President Biden signs 2024 FAA reauthorization into law on May 16, 2024.
Resource
Enact a New, Long-Term Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Supporting Continued Air Service to Local Communities
Advocacy
House and Senate leaders release text of 2024 Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization compromise
House and Senate leaders release text of 2024 Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization compromise.
Related News
NACo and coalition partners sends letter opposing heavy truck weight and size limits to congressional leaders
On January 20, NACo and 20 coalition partners sent a letter to leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works urging them to oppose any legislation that would increase maximum truck size and weight limits on federal highways—either on their own or as part of larger reauthorization legislation.
Federal district court issues ruling preventing the federal government from imposing immigration compliance mandates on grant recipients
On November 4, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation cannot condition federal grant funding on a recipient’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
U.S. House of Representatives passes SPEED Act and other permitting reform bills
On December 18, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the SPEED Act (H.R. 4776). The SPEED Act would strengthen county involvement in decision-making and make needed commonsense reforms to the federal environmental review process.