Secretary LaHood: Key Airport Projects Across the Country in Jeopardy Unless Congress Passes an FAA Bill

WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt today warned that new construction projects will not begin and many will be delayed if Congress is unable to work out its differences and pass a clean extension of the FAA Reauthorization bill.

“Congress needs to do its work.  If they can’t pass a bill, local construction workers throughout the nation will see their projects and paychecks come to a halt.  This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world,” said Secretary LaHood.

The current FAA reauthorization expires at midnight this Friday, July 22, 2011.  Congress has extended the FAA’s authorization 20 separate times without controversy. Without an extension, FAA will be unable to move forward on important airport construction projects that include good paying jobs for local communities across the country.

The Airport Improvement Program, which provides construction project grants to airports, will be shut down and unable to provide roughly $2.5 billion for airport projects in all 50 states that could put thousands of people to work in good paying jobs.  A detailed breakdown of this funding by state is below.

“Controversial provisions in the House passed bill are needlessly threatening critical FAA programs and jeopardizing thousands of public and private sector jobs. I urge Congress to resolve its differences so we do not have to needlessly furlough employees who are performing valuable work for the public,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt.

Without another extension, up to 4,000 FAA employees in 35 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico will be furloughed and forced to go without pay.   Large numbers of employees in New Jersey, New York, California, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, Illinois and the District of Columbia will be affected. This includes many of FAA’s engineers, scientists, research analysts, administrative assistants, computer specialists, program managers and analysts, environmental protection specialists, and community planners.  A detailed list of states where employees will be furloughed is below.

In addition, without this legislation, approximately $200 million a week in airline taxes will not be collected or deposited into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF).

States Facing Loss of Construction Dollars

Alaska                                                69,700,000
Alabama                                            32,400,000
Arkansas                                           25,900,000
American Samoa                             3,500,000
Arizona                                              35,100,000
California                                          131,500,000
Colorado                                            34,200,000
Connecticut                                      4,700,000
District of Columbia                           300,000
Delaware                                           800,000
Florida                                                88,000,000
Georgia                                              67,100,000
Guam                                                 2,000,000
Hawaii                                                21,300,000
Iowa                                                    41,100,000
Idaho                                                  17,500,000
Illinois                                                 90,300,000
Indiana                                              19,400,000
Kansas                                              41,900,000
Kentucky                                           18,700,000
Louisiana                                          33,500,000
Massachusetts                                 17,900,000
Maryland                                           9,100,000
Maine                                                 12,700,000
Michigan                                           36,400,000
Minnesota                                         36,200,000
Missouri                                             24,600,000
Northern Mariana Islands              2,200,000
Mississippi                                        34,600,000
Montana                                            18,700,000
North Carolina                                  45,600,000
North Dakota                                    22,800,000
Nebraska                                           21,900,000
New Hampshire                               3,700,000
New Jersey                                       44,700,000
New Mexico                                      25,400,000
Nevada                                              36,000,000
New York                                           62,600,000
Ohio                                                   38,900,000
Oklahoma                                         54,800,000
Oregon                                               16,500,000
Pennsylvania                                   28,300,000
Puerto Rico                                       15,900,000
Rhode Island                                    1,100,000
South Carolina                                 30,700,000
South Dakota                                   25,700,000
Tennessee                                        34,700,000
Texas                                                 72,100,000
Utah                                                   10,100,000
Virginia                                              40,500,000
Virgin Islands                                   2,200,000
Vermont                                             4,800,000
Washington                                      37,900,000
Wisconsin                                         25,300,000
West Virginia                                     10,800,000
Wyoming                                           15,900,000
TOTAL                                                1,700,200,000*

*This does not include $800 million in discretionary funding.

States Where FAA Employees Will Be Furloughed

ALASKA
ARIZONA
CALIFORNIA
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HAWAII
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
KANSAS
MARYLAND
MASSACHUSETTS
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
MISSOURI
MONTANA
NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
NORTH DAKOTA
OHIO
OKLAHOMA
PENNSYLVANIA
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
UTAH
VIRGINIA
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
PUERTO RICO