Airport and Airway Trust Fund Issues in the 106th Congress

Publication Date: November 2000

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Transportation

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Abstract:

Congress concluded its debate on the airport and airway trust fund (aviation trust fund) by modifying its treatment in the budget. The Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21 or FAIR21)(P.L. 106-181) contains a so called ''guarantee'' that uses House and Senate point-of-order rules to ensure that all aviation trust fund receipts (including interest) are spent for aviation purposes on an annual basis. This provision represents a compromise in what had become a contentious debate. When the legislation was first considered in the House in 1999 it contained two separate budget options for the trust fund. The first, taking the trust fund off-budget, was contained in the passed House version of the bill. The second option, which would have created a ''firewall'' around aviation programs, was dropped during later committee consideration. (1) Changing the budget treatment of the trust fund was opposed by the Clinton Administration and by some Members of the House and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees. Reauthorization legislation passed by the Senate contained no budget treatment provisions. The budget treatment provisions in AIR21 were not challenged during the FY2001 appropriations process. This report will not be updated.