House to vote Tuesday on FAA funding extension

The House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on a short-term extension of funding for the Federal Aviation Administration which Republican leaders said would clear the way for a final long-term FAA bill.

Lawmakers agreed to a deal last week on labor election rules for transportation workers after fractious negotiations held up a multi-year funding bill for the FAA for the better part of a year.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said there are other issues remaining that need to be resolved on a long-term bill, but both Democrats and Republicans have expressed confidence that the agreement on the labor provision would clear the runway for the multi-year FAA bill.

“After Speaker Boehner and Senator Reid reached agreement Friday on labor provisions to require unprecedented reform and increased oversight of the National Mediation Board (NMB), I agreed to bring up this extension to provide the time necessary to complete work on a few remaining issues and comply with notification requirements for considering legislation,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.) said in a statement.

“We must bring to conclusion a long-term FAA bill to help create jobs, modernize our nation’s aviation infrastructure and air traffic control system, and streamline and reform FAA programs as soon as possible," he continued.

The bill scheduled to be introduced Tuesday by Mica would fund the FAA through Feb. 17, not the end of the month as was originally reported last week.

Sources in the Republican-led House have said the GOP hopes to complete work on the long-term FAA bill by mid-February. They have said the compromise bill would fund the FAA for four years.

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