Page 34 - Volume 16 Number 4

APRIL 2012
focus
User Fees Are
Again In Focus
by Ed Bolen NBAA President and CEO
Earlier this year, I predicted that our industry would need to be vigilant because of the continuing threat of user fees. That has unfortunately become reality, as President Obama has once again called for aviation user fees - the third time he has done so during his administration.
At the start of the year, the White House wrote to individuals who had signed a petition asking the president to reconsider his support for user fees. The White House response - titled “Why We Need User Fees” - followed previous calls for the new fees in federal budget proposals, plans for deficit reduction and other documents.
All previous attempts for added user fees have been rejected by lawmakers. However, on February 13 President Obama made good on this latest threat, by including a $100 per-flight user fee for operators utilizing turbine-powered aircraft for business purposes in his fiscal 2013 federal budget proposal.
Fortunately, business aviation has many supporters on Capitol Hill. Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-4-KS) took to the House floor days after the President’s proposal was revealed, and made an eloquent and impassioned argument regarding the impact that aviation user fees would assuredly have on the industry, including the extremely detrimental effects to flight school operations and other small businesses, as well
as aircraft manufacturers and support companies.
Support for the industry has also been strong in the Senate, where leaders including Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) have recently taken to the floor to highlight the industry’s value in creating jobs, helping companies succeed, and connecting towns across the U.S.
At the beginning of March, officials on the House Aviation Subcommittee joined with leaders of the General Aviation Caucus to send a strongly-worded letter to President Obama in opposition to the $100 per- flight user fee. A total of 195 House Representatives signed the March 1 letter expressing strong Congressional opposition to the latest
32 TWIN & TURBINE APRIL 2012